Yuga Labs Discord Server Hacked, Ether and NFTs Worth More Than $600,000 Stolen

This isn't the first time hackers have compromised a Yuga Labs account through a social media platform in recent times.

By Shomik Sen Bhattacharjee | Updated: 6 June 2022 17:04 IST

Yuga Labs Discord Server Hacked, Ether and NFTs Worth More Than $600,000 Stolen

Photo Credit: Facebook/ BAYC

Malicious actors have been able to hack the Discord server of Bored Apes again

Highlights

A BAYC community manager's account was compromised by hackers
Hackers stole Ether, NFTs from wallets of users
A BAYC founder believes Discord is to blamed for the hack

Hackers have stolen cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) after compromising a Discord server run by Yuga Labs, the creator of leading NFTs such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC). The successful attack involved the compromise of an account belonging to Yuga Labs Community and community manager Boris Vagner. With access to Vagner's account, those behind the attack posted phishing links in both the official BAYC and the Otherside Discord channels. Yuga Labs has officially acknowledged that there was a breach stating that an investigation is underway.

The phishing messages, pretending to be from Vagner, promised an exclusive giveaway with a message that only those holding BAYC, Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Otherside NFTs could participate. The holders were then sent to a phishing site that asked users to enter their login details. Once the login details were handed over, the attackers then stole Ether and NFTs held in the account's linked wallet. Access to the Discord server was eventually returned to Yuga Labs but not before the damage was done.

Twitter user NFTherder was the first to reveal the hack to the public and as per a report by Bleeping Computer those behind the attack stole an estimated 145 Ether worth approximately $250,000 (roughly Rs. 2 crore) and 32 NFTs. The official Twitter account of BAYC states that the stolen NFTs were worth around 200 ETH (roughly $361,000 or Rs. 2.8 crore).

MG Motor Says It Has Launched Metaverse Platform MGverse

Despite what appears to be a lapse on Yuga Labs' part, one of the founders of BAYC is of the opinion that Discord is to blamed for the hack in this case.

This isn't the first time a Yuga Labs account has been compromised either. In a nearly identical attack, hackers obtained access to the BAYC Instagram account in April and then sent out phishing messages with malicious links. NFTs valued at about $13.7 million (roughly Rs. 105 crore) were stolen.

India Crypto Taxation Laws Incoming, RBI Outlines CBDC Issues Before IMF

In the Instagram case, Yuga Labs claimed two-factor authentication was enabled and the security practices surrounding the Instagram account were tight.

Will crypto tax hurt the industry in India? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.