Polygon Discord Breach Triggers Attacks on Avalanche and ZKsync
- Discord breaches across Polygon, Avalanche, and ZKsync expose significant security flaws in crypto community channels.
- The incidents underline the urgent need for enhanced security measures on platforms popular with blockchain users.
Currently, the Layer-1 network Avalanche and Layer-2 blockchain ZKsync have fallen victim to Discord server exploits, just days after a similar breach occurred on Polygon’s Discord. On August 25, Avalanche’s official Discord was compromised, with attackers posting fake “distribution” links promising free AVAX tokens.
The Avalanche team quickly identified and resolved the issue, urging users to avoid interacting with any suspicious links. In response, Stog Chog, a community member, advised the community not to open any shared links, stating,
Avax Discord is looking suspicious… they’ve disabled chat in all channels and made an announcement about ‘claiming AVAX from the foundation.’
Avax discord looking sus…disabled chat in all channels and an announcement about “claiming Avax from the foundation”
My advice?
…don’t click anything in that discord for a while… pic.twitter.com/x9MLy4vPeX
— Stog Chog
(@stogchog) August 25, 2024
In the following hour, ZKsync’s Discord was also breached, with hackers promoting a fake “round 2 airdrop” for ZK tokens. While ZKsync hasn’t formally addressed the attack on X, several team members acknowledged the incident on Discord.
These breaches follow a similar exploit on Polygon’s Discord, where malicious links were shared, leading to significant financial losses for some users.
According to recent CNF coverage, Polygon (MATIC) employs Layer 2 scaling solutions, offering a scalable infrastructure for Ethereum, resulting in decreased fees and quicker transaction times. The rise in such attacks highlights the growing vulnerabilities within Discord servers used by cryptocurrency communities.
A loss of $150,000 worth of Ether (ETH) occurred following an interaction with what appeared to be an official announcement on Polygon’s Discord channel, according to a user, ValidatorK. As of today, Polygon (MATIC) is trading at $0.5188, having decreased by 2.51% in the past day and surged by 23.79% in the past week. See the MATIC price chart below.
