Critical Security Alert: Ethereum Hacks

The press is reporting a $32M theft of the cryptocurrency Ethereum. Like all such thefts, they're not a result of a cryptographic failure in the currencies, but instead a software vulnerability in the software surrounding the currency -- in this case, digital wallets.

This is the second Ethereum hack this week. The first tricked people in sending their Ethereum to another address.

“CoinDash is responsible to all of its contributors and will send CDTs [CoinDash Tokens] reflective of each contribution. Contributors that sent ETH to the fraudulent Ethereum address, which was maliciously placed on our website, and sent ETH to the CoinDash.io official address will receive their CDT tokens accordingly. Transactions sent to any fraudulent address after our website was shut down will not be compensated.”

This is my concern about digital cash. The cryptography can be bulletproof, but the computer security will always be an issue.

Sources:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zmvkke/this-is-not-a-drill-a-hacker-allegedly-stole-dollar32-million-in-ethereum
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/hackers-seize-32-million-in-parity-wallet-breach/
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hacker-uses-parity-wallet-vulnerability-to-steal-30-million-worth-of-ethereum/
Image credit: CoinDash