Hacked? The Problem With Cross-Chain Tokens and PlatformsLately there has been an increase in hacking activities in crypto and Web3 related projects as whole, as hackers target smaller projects and platforms to siphon money out of vulnerable systems.
To be clear, none of the major protocols or coins has EVER been breached - Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Tezos, etc. The protocol has always been safe, and decentralized. But individual projects and platforms (including DAOs and DeFis) might be vulnerable.
Crypto projects get hacked in two main ways:
1) For efficiency/speeds, crypto projects built on top of certain blockchains often have to be centralized to some extent in order to get the results needed. This often leads to vulnerabilities that can be targeted by hackers (ex. 1 login/password that gives the intruder access to everything).
2) 51% attacks - if the hackers are willing to front enough money to own 51%+ of the tokens, they can use that leverage to basically control the whole blockchain for their own purposes at any time. This gets more difficult as the network grows (since it becomes more expensive to reach 51%+) but smaller blockchain projects are vulnerable to these types of attacks since it requires much less resources than trying to target larger networks. (The major coins out there are basically impossible to 51% attack at this point.)
Because Web3 projects is still in its early stages at this point, breaches like these may become more commonplace and people may end up losing a lot of money if they're not careful. Buyer beware, either way.
According to Vitalik, the solution to this problem is Maximalism a "healthy intolerance" of other forms of thinking. (This is an April Fools joke, just in case. lol)
vitalik.ca
