Tether, the issuer of the largest stablecoin by trading volume; USDT has frozen the address of an attacker who hacked Ledger ConnectKit library. The CEO of the company, Paolo Ardiono made the disclosure today on his X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday.
The interception by Tether implies that the attacker would no longer be able to receive or send out funds from the wallet after draining millions of crypto assets from various protocols. Before the stablecoin issuer took action, the address had already received $483,000 worth of cryptocurrency. More so, the funds include $44,000 worth of USDT.
Recall that reports earlier indicated that a code storage; Ledger ConnectKit library belonging to the wallet provider suffered an attack by a malicious actor. More so, the attack provided the hacker the pathway to drain millions from users’ wallets. Consequently, the attack impacted a host of DeFi protocols which made them vulnerable.
In reaction, various DeFi protocols have been disabled to contain the effect of the attack. Presently, Kyber and RevokeCash discontinued their front-ends to protect users. Similarly, the Chief Technology Officer of Sushi Swap, Matthew Lilley urged users to avoid interacting with any dapps at the moment.
Insight into the Attack on Ledger
Meanwhile, Ledger has provided insight into the circumstances surrounding the attack. The wallet service provider revealed that its former employee suffered a phishing attack. Further, the firm disclosed that the phishing attack provided the malicious actor the pathway to its account and pitch a new code.
Additionally, Ledger revealed that the hacker published an illicit type of its Ledger Connect Kit. The manipulated version by the attacker affected the older versions of its Ledger Connect Kit; 1.1.5, 1.1.6, and 1.1.7. As revealed, the hacker went on to forward the funds of its victims to a wallet using an illicit tool.
However, it took Ledger about 5 hours to identify that the malicious code was active. After discovering the hack, the firm immediately initiated an amendment which took about 40 minutes.
How Tether is Contributing to a Safe Crypto Atmosphere
Lately, Tether intervened in various hack cases by freezing malicious addresses. The stablecoin issuers have vowed to ensure that the crypto market is void of illicit activities. On November 20, Binbits reported that Tether joined forces with the United States Department of Justice and OKX to intercept 225 million USDT connected to an international human trafficking syndicate in Asia.
Similarly, in October, Tether also seized $835 million worth of crypto assets belonging to some blacklisted wallets in Ukraine and Israel. The company further emphasized its commitment to fighting the usage of crypto for illicit activities with its recent intervention in Ledger’s hack.