For several months, blockchain bridges have become the preferred targets of hackers. The proof is that several bridges have been attacked in recent days. But why? Why are blockchain bridges so attractive to hackers? In this article, we propose to find out the reasons for this.
Almost 69% of funds lost
Over the past few months, these are billions of dollars of digital assets who were lost because of the pirates. Here are some examples that illustrate it. In March 2022, the Ronin Bridge blockchain bridge was the victim of a malicious attack by hackers. Consequence: a loss of more than $625 million. This event, by the way, was considered one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts. But this is not the only attack that took place. Quite the contrary…
In June of the same year, the pirates made a strong attack on the Harmony One Bridge. They managed to steal more than $100 million in a single attack. More recently, in August, it was the Nomad Bridge that, on the other hand, lost $200 million as a result of an attack that targeted smart contracts.
In the end, the Chainalysis specialists believe that more than $2 billion has been stolen on blockchain bridges just during the year 2022 (which is not even over yet).
The value of blockchain bridges
To find out why blockchain bridges are so attractive to hackers, you first need to know what they are. Bridges are essential elements in the blockchain universe, because currently, blockchains that work are unable to communicate with each other. The bridges therefore allow to establish communications and solve the problem of interoperability.
More concretely, at the moment, no user can use bitcoin (BTC) on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain and he cannot use ether on the Bitcoin blockchain either. In this case, it becomes difficult to make fund transfers between users of different blockchains. And that’s where the bridges come in! As the name suggests, they create communication zones.
True, the mode of operation of each bridge differs from that of the others. However, the principle is generally the same. A user A who wishes to transfer funds to a user B locks the amount of cryptocurrencies to be sent on a blockchain. In exchange, the protocol will create the same amount of digital assets on another blockchain (an amount equivalent to the blocked funds).
The mode of operation of the bridges allows users to to make transfers without complexity. But it is precisely this that seduces pirates. By attacking bridges, especially those that have a certain vulnerability due to a bug, they can steal a lot of money.
In the field of blockchain, bridges are among the most important tools due to the many advantages they present. Unfortunately, they are the target of hackers who, by carrying out malicious attacks, are certain to take advantage of their vulnerability to make money.
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Behind the generic signature “Editorial CT” are young journalists and authors with special profiles who wish to remain anonymous because they are involved in the ecosystem with certain obligations.
