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The Blockchain Bandit, a hacker notorious for exploiting vulnerabilities in Ethereum wallets, has reappeared, consolidating stolen property after years of inactivity.
On Dec. 30, blockchain investigator ZachXBT reported that the hacker moved 51,000 ETH, value roughly $172 million, right into a single pockets.
These funds had been transferred from ten beforehand inactive wallets, marking the hacker’s first important exercise in years.
The Blockchain Bandit
The Blockchain Bandit earned notoriety by exploiting weak personal keys on the Ethereum blockchain. This method concerned focusing on wallets with insecure keys, typically set to easy sequences like “1,” “2,” or “3.” These vulnerabilities allowed the hacker to siphon crypto from unsuspecting customers.
The dimensions of those exploits first got here to gentle in 2019 when safety researcher Adrian Bednarek found the problem throughout a routine investigation.
He recognized lots of of wallets utilizing dangerously weak keys, revealing the hacker’s systematic technique of scanning for such vulnerabilities. This strategy, generally known as “Ethercombing,” enabled automated theft from compromised wallets.
Over two years, the hacker breached 732 personal keys and carried out practically 49,000 transactions. Their exercise peaked between 2016 and 2018, with over 45,000 ETH stolen in simply eight months.
Following this spree, the hacker’s wallets remained untouched—till now.
The reappearance of the Blockchain Bandit highlights the persistent safety challenges throughout the crypto ecosystem.
Regardless of developments in pockets expertise, Web3 researcher Pix famous that a number of crypto customers are nonetheless susceptible to comparable assaults due to weak key mills, poor pockets practices, and the potential for human error. The researcher added:
“The Bandit’s playbook isn’t outdated — it’s a warning.”
Furthermore, the Blockchain Bandit return additionally illuminates a broader pattern of rising crypto thefts. This 12 months, crypto losses reached $2.3 billion, a 21% improve from the earlier 12 months. Notably, North Korea-linked cybercriminals accounted for $1.34 billion of those losses.