Hacker Forum Launches $115,000 Contest for New Cryptocurrency Attack Techniques
In late April 2021, analysts from Intel 471 discovered that an unnamed Russian-language hacker forum announced a contest for the best new hacking methods related to cryptocurrencies. The forum’s administrators invited participants to publish articles about unusual ways to steal private keys and wallets, cryptocurrency mining software, smart contracts, NFTs, and more.
The contest accepted submissions for 30 days, with the administration promising that the winners would split a prize pool of $100,000. Shortly after, one forum member added another $15,000 to the prize fund, bringing the total to $115,000.
Wide Range of Topics and Submissions
The promise of significant prize money worked: users began sharing articles on a variety of topics. For example, researchers noted that one article described manipulating the APIs of popular cryptocurrency services or decentralized file technologies to obtain private keys from crypto wallets. Another user provided a detailed guide on creating a phishing website to steal keys and corresponding seed phrases.
Previous Contests and the Growing Threat
Intel 471 points out that similar contests have been held on criminal forums before, with hacker groups seeking new knowledge to aid their attacks. These competitions have covered a wide range of topics, from botnets and ATM/PoS fraud to GPS signal spoofing. Every participant who submitted an article received $50, while the “best research” could earn up to $10,000. Ransomware creators, such as REvil and LockBit, have also organized similar contests.
Expert Insights
“This contest is a vivid example of why organizations need to actively monitor the cybercriminal underground. The efforts of this forum’s administration show that cybercriminals are closely watching the cryptocurrency ecosystem, have noticed the steadily rising prices of various cryptocurrencies, and will soon target NFTs due to their sky-high valuations. Cybercriminals go where the money is, and the funds circulating around cryptocurrency continue to ‘go to the moon,’ so criminals will inevitably want to profit from it,” the experts concluded.