Leading Web3 community platform Galxe experienced a roughly one hour website outage on October 6 due to a security breach affecting its DNS records, raising concerns around a potential theft exploit as well.
Galxe confirmed on Twitter that its website went offline at 14:44 UTC, later attributing the issue to a compromised DNS configuration.
The company warned users against accessing its domain until the matter was resolved. At press time, Galxe had not provided an all-clear update.
Cyber Investigators Flag Wallet Drain Risk
Shortly after Galxe’s outage, crypto investigator ZachXBT suggested an exploit had occurred allowing a threat actor to drain user wallets.
Blockchain security firm BlockFence affirmed Galxe’s DNS appeared redirected to a phishing site designed to steal funds. A linked wallet address was spotted accumulating $160,000 in crypto from the apparent scam.
Links to Recent Balancer Attack
ZachXBT implied potential ties between the Galxe incident and the entity behind the September 19th hack of DeFi protocol Balancer, which was similarly perpetrated via a DNS server breach.
That Balancer assault resulted in $238,000 stolen, and was attributed to a threat actor known as “Angel Drainer” specializing in Web3 wallet thefts.
Surge in Cyber Attacks on Web3 Projects
The Galxe situation exemplifies the rampant threats now faced by Web3 platforms. According to analysis by Immunefi, cyberattacks on crypto and DeFi projects surged 76% in Q3 2022 compared to last year.
Nearly $700 million was lost to hackers in Q3 alone, per the report. As crypto adoption expands, threat actors are aggressively exploiting Web3 vulnerabilities before defenses mature.
While details remain limited regarding the Galxe outage, the company’s transparency and rapid public warnings aligned with responsible disclosure practices. But the incident exemplifies the cyber risks inherent to budding Web3 systems.
