Cyber

WazirX

In a breakthrough in the investigation of a $235 million hack on the WazirX cryptocurrency exchange, Delhi Police arrested a man from the Bengal region suspected of involvement in the theft.
According to a police chargesheet shared with Cointelegraph, the breach didn’t arise from internal system vulnerabilities as it was executed through a fake account sold via Telegram to a third party who exploited it.
During the investigation, WazirX reportedly cooperated by providing hardware, Know Your Customer records and transaction logs required for the inquiry.
The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (IFSO) confirmed that WazirX’s internal systems were uncompromised, offering validation of the exchange’s security measures, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/liminal-responds-wazirx-hack-allegations" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/liminal-responds-wazirx-hack-allegations">which had faced scrutiny</a>.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/liminal-responds-wazirx-hack-allegations" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Liminal challenges WazirX accusations after $235M security breach</a>
<h2 id="chargesheet-details">Chargesheet details</h2>
The chargesheet clarified that the breach did not result from vulnerabilities within WazirX’s systems but was initiated through external access obtained via deceptive practices.
The chargesheet also said that the hackers accessed WazirX’s multisignature wallet, depleting it of crypto tokens valued at $235 million. It stated:
<blockquote>
 “It was suspected that [the suspect] was the part of well organized gang of hackers who breached [WazirX’s] platform by opening fictitious account.”
</blockquote>
According to the chargesheet, the suspect disclosed that a “buyer of crypto account through Telegram” offered him a “good amount” for Wazir X crypto accounts.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/wazir-x-launching-decentralized-exchange" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">WazirX plans on launching a decentralized exchange</a>
<h2 id="independent-security-validation">Independent security validation</h2>
An independent review of the breach by the IFSO validated that WazirX’s systems were not compromised, affirming the exchange’s stance on the robustness of its security framework.
Still, the investigation encountered challenges with third-party services responsible for managing the Indian exchange’s digital assets, indicating that delays in cooperation had slowed the data collection process.&nbsp;
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-hacks-scams-drop-40-percent-q3-2024" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Despite WazirX, Q3 crypto hack and scam losses fell to $413m YOY</a>
<h2 id="wazirx-blamed-liminal-for-the-breach">WazirX blamed Liminal for the breach</h2>
On Oct. 22, Liminal Custody, WazirX’s digital custody partner, released an update responding to what it called <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/liminal-responds-wazirx-hack-allegations" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/liminal-responds-wazirx-hack-allegations">the Indian crypto exchange’s “disinformation campaign</a>.”
This referred to WazirX allegedly deflecting blame for the breach onto Liminal by sharing misleading information through data disclosures and accusations that Liminal was responsible.
Liminal’s statement said that WazirX had retained over $175 million in assets on its platform 75 days post-breach despite accusing the digital custody partner of being its cause.
A WazirX spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the exchange was “in the process of migrating the remaining assets held on Liminal to new multisig wallets.”
Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/blockchain-gaming-success-adoption-web3/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Off The Grid’s success shows ‘invisible’ blockchain is the winning play</a>

Bengali man arrested in connection with $235M WazirX crypto heist

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Cointelegraph

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