Hackers Steal Nearly $400,000 From Premint

Premint, a platform for NFTs, suffered a loss of nearly $400,000 after an especially damaging online attack. Hackers pocketed a tidy sum of money by implementing malicious code to infiltrate the site and redirect funds to their own accounts. All in all, hackers stole more than 300 blockchain entries from the platform.

How did the Hackers Steal the NFTs and Crypto?

The heist centered on the use of malicious JavaScript. The harmful JavaScript was injected into the website code, spurring a pop-up presented to users. The pop-up inquired as to whether the users could verify their ownership of the wallet. As noted in a social media post made by Premint earlier this week, some users complied with the fraudulent request, providing their account information to the digital miscreants.

Instead of confirming their login details to enter the database and connect with other parties for NFT transactions and projects, the users in question found their login information was stolen, and the valuable NFTs were transferred out of their accounts. The compromised users also fell prey to a trap in which the hackers prompted targets to agree to a wallet setting dubbed "SetApproveForAll," creating an opportunity for hackers to take the money from digital wallets. The silver lining is that a small percentage of Premint's users took the bait.

What is SetApprovalForAll all About?

SetApprovalForAll is meant to permit the users of decentralized finance platforms to automatically approve the transferring of tokens as identified in a smart contract. The feature provides utility in the context of cyber attacks as it empowers hackers with an opportunity for manipulation that culminates in transferring user tokens to others' wallets.

What is the role of Web2 Vulnerabilities in the Attack?

The exploit is the latest that makes use of web2 susceptibilities. Those vulnerabilities are leveraged to take advantage of web3 projects. However, there is still a question as to whether the web3 ecosystem will account for the interconnection with web2 technology, mainly when a reliance results in a weakness ripe for exploitation.

How did Premint Respond to the Attack?

Premint has responded to the strike by implementing additional digital security features. However, those new implementations will not offset the fact that hackers stole hundreds of thousands of dollars of NFTs and Ethereum crypto from the platform.

The Premint hack is one of the largest in the crypto and NFT industries this year. Adding salt to the wound is the fact that some of the site's users were redirected to a "Rickroll" video after attempting to access their Premint accounts. Though Premint deserves some credit for taking down the site and prompting customers to turn off the set approval for all functions, it is clear that the company failed to implement the necessary digital safeguards. Furthermore, Premint is attempting to save face by crowdsourcing a list of the stolen NFTs to pinpoint their locations. Premint also provided users with a new login method that does not require connecting to digital wallets.