Not even the elite, like NBA team owners, are safe from the pitfalls of the digital realm. This Monday brought alarming news about Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and renowned Shark Tank investor. A staggering $870,000 in various digital tokens vanished from his crypto wallet.

A dormant 160-day period preceded this unexpected activity in Cuban’s crypto wallet. The abrupt withdrawal encompassed diverse tokens such as USDC, Lido-staked Ether, SuperRare tokens, and Ethereum Name Service. The episode was first spotlighted on Twitter by @WazzCrypto, drawing attention to the sudden movement of assets.

A heads up from crypto media house DL News gave Cuban an inkling of the transgression. Reflecting on the breach, Cuban mentioned, “I’m fairly certain I initiated a compromised version of MetaMask.” For the unversed, MetaMask stands out as a favored crypto wallet, operable both as an application and a browser addition. Fraudsters often hoodwink users with malicious versions of such software, enabling unauthorized access upon installation.

Before this revelation, Cuban experienced recurring system glitches with MetaMask. Post this discovery, he fortified his NFTs on OpenSea and reallocated the Polygon tokens from the breached account.

“The first time I accessed MetaMask in months, and this happens. They’ve been on the lookout,”

Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban’s foray into the crypto domain isn’t new. He previously vouched for Titan, a DeFI token which faced a catastrophic crash in 2021, and supported Voyager Digital, a crypto enterprise that declared bankruptcy the preceding year.

MetaMask’s History

Over the course of its existence, MetaMask has been more than acquainted with cyber threats. Its reputation, while strong in the crypto community, is frequently undermined by recurring security issues.

Phishing attacks have been a perennial concern. Perpetrators craft bogus MetaMask platforms to dupe users into sharing confidential information like private keys or seed phrases. This voluntary submission allows fraudsters to gain unrestricted access to users’ assets.

Another prevalent strategy involves rogue browser extensions that mimic MetaMask. Once these malicious extensions find their way into a user’s system, they can clandestinely record activities and convey crucial data to hackers. This method bears a striking resemblance to Mark Cuban’s unfortunate incident.

In the face of such constant challenges, MetaMask’s custodians have continually emphasized the importance of sourcing the software exclusively from their official portal or authenticated app stores. Yet, despite their sincere endeavors, eliminating these threats in their entirety remains a daunting task due to the inherently decentralized structure of the platform.

For end-users, these episodes serve as a critical lesson. Periodic software updates, meticulous URL verifications, and circumventing downloads from dubious sources are cardinal. As such, crypto continues to be volatile, and sometimes, a “jungle” when it comes to scams and phishing attacks.

The post Mark Cuban Hacked; Metamask Wallet Drained appeared first on Crypto Academy.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ September 19, 2023 1:23 pm