Sonne Finance And BlockTower: Next Target For Crypto Hackers

On May 15, there were reports regarding two cyber attacks involving Sonne Finance and BlockTower Capital, leading to a loss of more than $20 Million.

Despite the decrease in hacking and theft incidents surrounding the cryptocurrency landscape, there is no immediate end to it. There is continuous reporting of such incidents across different companies involved in crypto transactions.

These companies are improving their security by incorporating two-factor authentication (2FA), KYC and other similar security features. The recent attacks (hacks) on Sonne Finance and BlockTower were met with an immediate response from concerned parties; an investigation was conducted.

Detection of Cyber Attack Involving Sonne Finance

Before getting to the part about the hacks, it is first important to understand the functions of the company and how the hacker managed to trap them.

Sonne provides peer-to-peer lending solutions which are fully decentralized, transparent and non-custodial. It is an EVM compatible lending or borrowing protocol. The company has launched Optimism and expanded its Base.

On May 15, Cyvers Alerts (@CyversAlerts) shared an alert for crypto users through their X account informing users about a cyber attack detection involving Sonne Finance. The post also mentioned the initial amount stolen as $3 Million, which involved USDC and WETH contracts.

In a subsequent X post, they highlighted the increase in the intensity of losses as it reached $20 Million in a period of half an hour. They also directly addressed Sonne Finance and asked them to take immediate action to avoid further losses.

Looking at the details of the attacks, it is known that the total stolen amount was spread across 10 different transactions that were executed in 2 days.

How Sonne Team Responded

The team responded immediately as they learned about the loss 25 minutes after the exploit and soon started working on crisis management. The team also appreciated the early informers, as $6.5 Million was saved from hackers.

The team is also taking the necessary actions to determine the identity of the exploiter. Moreover, the company has informed users of the safety measures as they halted the operations at Optimism for the time being and continued the operations through Base, considering it safe.

They addressed their users, shared the available details of the hacking and ensured safety measures to avoid further losses.

In a communication through Medium, they also apologized to the users affected and also ensured that they were trying to reach the hacker to make some settlement.

Similar Loss of Funds at BlockTower

BlockTower is an institutional firm that allows professional trading, venture investing, credit underwriting, and portfolio management. The company utilizes and builds blockchain infrastructure to create a future for financial services.
Reportedly, unknown addresses robbed BlockTower Capital Fund through a cyber attack, leading to the loss of partial funds from their company’s main hedge fund products, which have an asset under management of $1.7 Billion. However, the lost amount remains undetermined.