Indodax Exchange Hacked for $22 Million, Experts Report

The Indonesian cryptocurrency exchange Indodax has reportedly lost approximately $22 million in various crypto assets due to a potential hack. 

On September 11, security firms PeckShield, Cyvers, and SlowMist alerted the public to a fund leakage from the Indodax platform. The estimated loss includes around $22 million in BTC, POL, OP, USDT, USDC, ARB, and numerous other assets. 

?SlowMist Security Alert?

Indonesian crypto exchange @indodax suffered an attack a few hours ago, with the hacker stealing various tokens from hot wallets. The total loss is approximately $22 million?. Below are the details of the losses⬇️ pic.twitter.com/r4i0rBbctJ

— SlowMist (@SlowMist_Team) September 11, 2024

According to Cyvers, the hackers have begun exchanging the stolen tokens for ETH.

?ALERT?Hey @indodax , Our system has detected multiple suspicious transactions involving your wallets on different networks. Suspicious address already holds 14.4 million USD and swapping the tokens to Ether.

Want to keep your company off our alerts radar? Learn how to secure… pic.twitter.com/Lzpi5uthXS

— ? Cyvers Alerts ? (@CyversAlerts) September 10, 2024

SlowMist ruled out the possibility of a hot wallet breach. Experts suggest that the withdrawal system may have been targeted.

1⃣ Based on our analysis?, we can rule out the possibility that the hot wallet has been compromised. It is possible that the withdrawal system has been hacked.

?Let’s dive into it.

Here are the hacked bitcoin transactions. The stolen funds were withdrawn from the Indodax… https://t.co/hQb0o4ljW8 pic.twitter.com/YCHYX1kg2y

— SlowMist (@SlowMist_Team) September 11, 2024

Cyvers speculated that the North Korean hacker group Lazarus might be behind the attack.

UPDATE: “THE PATTERN AND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE [INDODAX] ATTACK HIGHLY RESEMBLE THOSE OF NORTH KOREA’S LAZARUS GROUP,” YOSI HAMMER, HEAD OF AI, CYVERS, TOLD BSCN https://t.co/EC0t9WxD25

— BSCN Headlines (@BSCNheadlines) September 11, 2024

The exchange has gone into maintenance mode. The homepage states that the system is being updated to enhance transaction convenience. 

Indodax confirmed a potential vulnerability in the platform’s security system, assuring that user funds will remain unaffected and balances will be unchanged after the update. 

Halo Member INDODAX,

Kami ingin menginformasikan bahwa team security kami menemukan potensi indikasi keamanan pada platform kami.

Saat ini, kami sedang melakukan pemeliharaan menyeluruh untuk memastikan seluruh sistem beroperasi dengan baik. Selama proses pemeliharaan ini,… pic.twitter.com/kYAc6ilERF

— indodax (@indodax) September 11, 2024

During the maintenance period, Indodax launched a giveaway for comments on Instagram. 

‼️GIVEAWAY Nungguin INDODAX‼️

Nungguin sistem INDODAX up karena maintenance? Ada giveaway sebesar total 3 JUTA RUPIAH tiap 1 jam untuk 3 orang pemenang selama masih maintenance.

Caranya gampang, tulis di komentar Instagram @indodax alasan kenapa trading kripto di INDODAX.…

— indodax (@indodax) September 11, 2024

According to CoinMarketCap, Indodax’s total asset volume is $368 million. 

In July, on-chain researcher ZachXBT linked the hack of the DMM Bitcoin exchange to the actions of Lazarus.

Back in May, the Japan-based platform lost $305 million in Bitcoin due to an attack.