30 Aug Millions Drained! Everything we know till now about the Solana Wallet Hack!

It’s a new day in the crypto world and we come with another groundbreaking news. On Tuesday, 2nd August 2022, Solana owners reported that their funds are disappearing into thin air. With time it became clearer that the Solana interface was under attack and successfully hacked by intruders. They drained millions of dollars from their online wallets. 

How did it happen?

The cause is still unclear and under investigation. We still don’t know the extent of the damage that this hack has caused to Solana wallets. However, the next day, on Wednesday, the official Twitter account for Solana, ‘’Solana Status’’ confirmed that the hack is limited to Slope wallets, which are particularly designed for Solana cryptocurrency. They further explained that somehow the private keys were ‘’inadvertently transmitted to an application monitoring service’’. So the blockchain did not get compromised, hence it was an interception of the wallets and the safety of the private keys which were jeopardized. 

What has been stolen so far?

The security network of Solana confirms that assets valued at an estimated USD 5.2 million have been drained so far. This includes Solana’s cryptocurrency, SOL, NFTs, and other Solana-based tokens. The head of communications at Solana, Austin Federa stated that their engineers continue to look for answers as to how this hack could have happened. Approximately 8,000 wallets got drained empty. He further commented how the hack is not focused on the Solana code but on the software which operated the wallets of Solana carriers. 

Who got hacked?

More than 8,000 wallets became the target of the attack hackers. Many of those were Solana’s ‘’hot’’ wallets which are primarily connected to the internet. These are Phantom, Slope, and Trust Wallet. 

How did the hacker bypass security?

It’s uncertain as to what exactly happened, but it appears the hacker was able to enter the wallets of the users and gave permission for transactions on behalf of the victim. They targeted a third-party individual or entity and approved transactions. However, the only confirmation that has been received so far is that there was a loophole in the security network of the software of wallets, which enabled the attackers to intrude. The Solana blockchain remains secure. 

On Wednesday afternoon, Phantom tweeted through their Twitter account and expressed that they suspect that complications had arisen due to users’ importing accounts to and from Slope. They are actively working to identify more complexities or loopholes that may be the reason for the hackers to invade the network fairly easily. 

Slope confirms that they are working with external forces and top security networks to figure out what happened.

 Does the hack solely affect Solana?

So far, from what is apparent it seems like only Solana users were the victims. It cannot be said for sure what the motive of the attack was, or if the attackers aimed to solely penetrate the Solana interface. If they have other intentions in mind, they have not been implied till now. For now, only Solana products are affected. 

What should crypto users do to enhance protection?

Risks are present at all costs but to minimize them, it’s better to utilize cold wallets, which are wallets that don’t use the internet to store your assets. They are widely considered to be the safest option to store your cryptocurrency and would protect you against situations like the Solana hack. 

Hot wallets become more vulnerable as they are easier to hack. This is just because they have access to the internet. We would advise you that you shift your funds to a hardware wallet if you haven’t already and protect your assets.