Crypto Hacked: Blockchain Bandit Active Again

A prolific hacker famously known as the 'Blockchain Bandit' is believed to be on the move again after hacked crypto was moved.

Blockchain Bandit first gained popularity in 2015-16 after using a technique called "Ethercombing" to steal more than £70m in crypto from thousands of holders.

Six years after the infamous incident, the hacker has awakened. The huge amount of crypto hacked back then was moved from the Bandit's wallet last week.

This crypto hacking scandal was considered a programmatic theft because of the sheer amount of money involved. The hacker stole 51,000 ETH and 470 BTC, valued at £73 million today. The hacker is suspected to be moving his funds due to the recent rise in crypto prices.

The Blockchain Bandit got their name after successfully stealing ETH from thousands of holders with weak private keys using Ethercombing. The hacker's attempt emptied more than 10,000 wallets from holders worldwide.

In 2019, the Blockchain Bandit gained 45,000 ETH by simply guessing the weak private keys. The now infamous thief heavily relied on the process of being able to guess an address's public key if you are aware of the private key. The hacker seems to have come up with an automated system that helped him scan and identify these weak keys. He exploited this to no extent and was able to steal millions in funds from thousands of crypto holders.

Chainanalysis came up with a diagram to portray the shifting of funds. However, they did not mention any specific targets. Chainanalysis advises crypto holders to use well-known and reliable wallets to do transactions and use hardware wallets to move large amounts of funds to avoid getting their crypto hacked.

Why is the hacker on the move?

After over half a decade of inactivity, the hacker's wallet was seen to be active as he was moving the crypto hacked previously. Crypto experts believe this sudden activity and the moving of funds is due to the recent hike in crypto prices.

The hacker is suspected of moving millions in stolen funds to a more secure location. There have been no updates since his last activity, but his moves are being heavily monitored.

The news comes only days after the FTX reported more than £342m in stolen funds through hacking.