Galxe protocol experiences DNS attack, losses top $150,000 so far and still growing

The Web3 platform’s website has been restored, but the company still warns against using it. The hack may be linked to September’s attack on Balancer.

The website of Web3 community platform Galxe was offline for about an hour on Oct. 6. Galxe reported on X (Twitter) that its website was down at 14:44 UTC and 40 minutes later posted an update confirming that it had experienced a security breach affecting the company’s Domain Name System (DNS) record. It warned against visiting its domain until the situation is remedied. 

Galxe has not confirmed that its website is safe to use again at the time of writing. After the website was restored, some X posters were reporting that it was blocked by Google.

Dear Galxe Community,

We recognize the impact that recent events have had upon our users and are quickly working to take remedial action. The Galxe security team continues to take an aggressive approach to protect your data, funds and digital assets.

Steps You Should Take:
❗️Do…

— Galxe (@Galxe) October 6, 2023

One Web3 cybersecurity service explained:

“Their DNS records have been modified to redirect to a phishing web-site that drains users wallets.”

Crypto detective ZachXBT has reported that funds are being stolen from Galxe. The wallet linked to the exploit by ZachXBT continued to gather funds after the Galxe website came back online, and hovered around $160,000 at 17:15 UTC.

ZachXBT suggested a link between the Galxe exploiter and the party that attacked the Balancer protocol on Sept. 19. That was the second attack on Balancer in the span of a month.

Once you connect to Galxe, you will be prompted for approval.
If you approve by logging in to WEB3 as usual, all assets will be removed.
Please RT and spread the word. pic.twitter.com/W51Bdd78KU

— ZORBA۞ (@OHzorba) October 6, 2023

The second attack on Balancer led to losses of $238,000. The Balancer team called the incident a social engineering attack on its DNS server carried out by a crypto wallet drainer called Angel Drainer. Blockchain security firm SlowMist suggested that the attacker was associated with Russia.

$148k has already been stolen by the Galxe hacker.

The hacker is using the same smart contract on 10 networks:

0x0000d38a234679F88dd6343d34E26DCB50C30000

Please revoke this smart contract ASAP on:

❍ Ethereum
❍ Optimism
❍ Arbitrum
❍ BNB Chain
❍ Base
❍ Polygon
❍… pic.twitter.com/I9SN3FfPYF

— FIP Crypto (@FIP_Crypto) October 6, 2023

Losses to Web3 projects increased dramatically in the third quarter of this year, as compared to Q3 2022, according to a recent report from security platform Immunefi. Attacks rose from 30% to 76% year-on-year, and losses reached close to $686 million in Q3 2023. The biggest loss in that period was from the Mixin hack on Sept. 25.

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