Layerswap, a platform that facilitates transactions between centralized cryptocurrency exchanges and layer 2 blockchains, regained control of its domain after it was briefly hijacked, resulting in approximately $100,000 in losses from users.
The security breach occurred on March 20 at 19:40 UTC. At that time, the Layerwap.io domain was hijacked and users were redirected to a phishing site. Shortly after the domain compromise, the attackers attempted to reset Layerswap’s social media accounts on Platform X, effectively blocking the company.
According to Layerswap, GoDaddy’s slow response allowed the hackers to maintain control of the domain for an extended period of time. At approximately 23:07 UTC, LayerSwap restored access to the GoDaddy account and reversed the hackers’ changes. The company stated as follows:
“We reached out to GoDaddy support for clarification to understand how the breach occurred, but received no concrete response. We have agreed to receive a detailed report via email and plan to share it with the community for transparency.”
A sophisticated Layerswap phishing scheme was able to extract approximately $100,000 in cryptocurrency from approximately 50 individuals. The company plans to compensate the affected users in full and provide an additional 10% as compensation for the inconvenience caused.
The company advised investors to decertify their tokens as a precautionary measure to prevent further losses and has initiated a refund process for those affected.
On March 20, hardware wallet provider Trezor was also targeted by a sophisticated cyberattack, resulting in at least $8,100 in losses. Cybercriminals sent false messages about a non-existent “$TRZR” token presale on the Solana network, directing Trezor’s followers to a fraudulent website where they could siphon their wallets.
Amid these security breaches, the United Nations Security Council released a report highlighting North Korea’s increasing involvement in cyberattacks, which is now a major source of foreign exchange earnings. The report estimates that North Korea has made nearly $3 billion through cyber heists, highlighting the vulnerabilities that exist in the cryptocurrency sector’s security measures.