Multiple crypto-related hacks happen within 24 hours

Aurum Coin Hack

AurumCoin (AU), a little-known cryptocurrency whose management describe themselves as the ‘The first distributed open source cryptocurrency to be backed by gold’ has claimed that it has become a victim to a 51% attack. Cryptopia, the crypto exchange where the cryptocurrency is listed, lost 15,752.26 AU (approx. $550,000 at the time of writing this article). However, AurumCoin is pointing fingers at the exchange, blaming Cryptopia. On the website, the team has put up a disclaimer that states that it is not responsible to anyone since it is an open-source distributed currency. Cryptopia, on the other hand, has not yet acknowledged any loss.

The principle underlying the supposed AurumCoin (AU) is that each digital token is pegged to the value of pure 24K gold. Each AU is backed by 0.75 grams of gold stored in secure vaults around the world. It has been running its own blockchain since 2014, and dubiously the token is mineable despite its supposed gold peg (with a hard cap of 300,000 coins).

A 51% attack refers to 50% of a network’s hash rate or hash power being controlled by a miner, or group of miners. A network’s hash rate is a measure of the rate at which hashes are being computed on the network, a process that is known as hashing. A successful attack would grant them the ability to control transactions, including stopping new transactions, reversing transactions and double spending coins. 51% attacks have been successfully mounted on smaller Cryptocurrencies many times in the past.

AurumCoin was an easy target considering the fact that its market cap was just $10 million. The hacker sent 15,752.26 AU to Cryptopia and subsequently sold it for a different cryptocurrency. Once the transaction completed, the hacker allegedly reversed the transaction using their superior hash power, leaving no traces. Cryptopia which is based out of New Zealand is a popular cryptocurrency exchange known for listing a variety of small-cap coins.

Meanwhile, AurumCoin has tried to shift the blame to Crypopia, while the exchange has not yet acknowledged the attack. The firm released the following statement confirming the attack: “Aurum coin (AU) network was hacked (51 percent attack), a total of 15,752.26 AU is missing from Cryptopia’s wallet (cryptopia.co.nz exchange). Aurum coin network is not the responsibility of anyone, same as bitcoin network, it is an open source distributed cryptocurrency. What’s worse is that the management of Cryptopia does not admit it. This is not the way to solve this problem.”

Hackers Infiltrate Target Twitter Account

U.S. retail giant Target’s twitter account has reportedly been hacked and the 1.92 million follower account has been used to launch a cryptocurrency giveaway scam. The Target account tweeted that a total of 5,000 Bitcoin was being given away to “all community”. The tweet was approved to run as a paid promotional tweet by Twitter themselves, which made matters worse

An image with a Bitcoin address in it was embedded in the tweet, which revealed that the hackers were able to make off with about $38,000 of cryptocurrencies going by the transaction history. The original tweets have since been deleted. Target acknowledged the attack in a statement: “Early this morning, our Twitter account was inappropriately accessed. The access lasted for approx. half an hour & one fake tweet was posted during that time about a Bitcoin scam. We have regained control of the account, are in close contact with Twitter & are investigating now,”.

Google’s official G Suite Twitter Account Hacked

The bitcoin scam that has been plaguing the social media platform for the last few weeks have claimed their latest victim in Google’s official G Suite Twitter account. The attack resulted in one’s G Suite account tweeting out fake promotional tweets directing users toward a scammy bitcoin address as part of a “giveaway.”

Twitter found several other accounts that had been compromised and confirmed that they are working to take action. Following hot on the heels of the Target hack, the G Suite hack might be indicating that such scams related to cryptocurrencies are not going to go away anytime soon.

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