Hackers hacked the Safemoon exchange and withdrew $9 million worth of crypto assets

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Decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Safemoon based on the BNB Chain network was hacked, as a result of which about $9 million was withdrawn from its liquidity pool.

“To the @SAFEMOON Community: We would like to inform you that our LP [liquidity pool] has been compromised,” the exchange tweeted, adding that it is taking immediate action to resolve the issue.

According to the BscScan service, from the liquidity poolAlmost $9 million worth of crypto assets were withdrawn from the exchange. Cybersecurity specialists from Peckshield noted that a recent update to the exchange introduced a public burn function that made it easier to hack. This option allowed any user to burn tokens from a different address.

The hacker was able to artificially raise the price of the SFM token and then sold enough tokens back into the liquidity pool in the same transaction, according to Peckshield.

“The attacker was able to burn most of the SFM, which increased the price of the token,” Peckshield explained.

A few hours after the hack, the hackersadded a message to one transaction saying they want a refund of the funds they used. According to PeckShield, the hackers have already recovered more than $1.2 million worth of BNB.

“Hey relax, we accidentally launched an attack against you, we would like to return the funds, set up a secure communication channel, let's talk,” the hackers wrote.

According to a recent PeckShield report, the totalIn February, $35.5 million worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen. The largest number of hacks - 141 - occurred on February 11. In February, the United Nations (UN) submitted a report to the DPRK Sanctions Committee, according to which North Korean hackers stole more cryptoassets in 2022 than in any other year.