- Investigators have uncovered revealing information about the Cardano attackers.
- The Cardano community demands that the attackers face justice.
- The attackers could face up to ten years in prison for their actions if reported.
Cardano’s impeccable security record was recently put to the test when hackers launched an unwarranted spam attack. Fortunately, the attack only caused a minor slowdown and did not leave a dent.
Now that the dust has settled, investigators have uncovered revealing information about the attackers, and the community is ready with pitchforks, eager to take action against them.
Cardano Attackers Linked to Kraken
On Tuesday, June 25, attackers launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on Cardano by sending several transactions, executing 194 smart contracts labeled “REWARD.”
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The attackers aimed to overload the network with unnecessary processing to steal staked ADA.
While the spam attack did increase network load above normal traffic levels, leading to some SPOs being “negatively affected,” the overall impact was minimal. Intersect reported only a “small impact on overall transaction timings and some reduction in chain density.”
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Instead, Philip Disarro, founder and CEO of Anastasia Labs, a Cardano-focused development platform, quickly identified the DDoS attack strategy and shared a countermeasure on X, enabling developers to reclaim their stolen ADA.
Following the attack, PADDY, founder of ADA Markets, discovered that all three of the attackers’ wallets originated from the Kraken exchange, sparking quite a reaction from the community.
Cardano Community Demands Accountability
While ADA holders celebrated the network’s resilience against the attack, they also took out their pitchforks and demanded that the attackers be held accountable.
Considering Kraken is an AML and KYC-compliant crypto exchange, the exchange likely has personal information that could lead to the attackers’ arrest. While it’s uncertain if Kraken will yield to pressure from the Cardano community, the exchange can report criminal behavior to the authorities. However, this presents a dilemma.
Some community members are divided on whether the attackers’ actions were illegal. They argue that the attackers merely sent numerous transactions to the network, something Cardano is designed to handle.
Conversely, others contend that under the United States Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, such an unauthorized DDoS attack is a criminal offense, potentially resulting in up to 19 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
It remains uncertain if Intersect or IOHK will collaborate with authorities to bring the attackers to justice; however, Cardano has undergone a bit of an upgrade to prevent such attacks in the future.
On the Flipside
- Cardano has experienced zero downtime in over six years.
- A meme coin called DDoS was created to mark the attack. DDoS achieved a fully diluted value of $1 million but has since dropped to $291k and continues to drop.
Why This Matters
It’s not often that Cardano’s reliability is tested, but its performance in the recent attack certainly bolsters its credibility. As for bringing the attackers to justice, the Cardano committee isn’t entirely focused on it.
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