Etherscan Block-Explorer Hit by ‘Harmless’ Hack
HomeCryptocurrency NewsBitcoinist.com

Etherscan Block-Explorer Hit by ‘Harmless’ Hack

Visitors to the Etherscan.io website  were panicking on Monday when faced with a pop-up indicating that the site had been hacked . The popu...

Richard Sherman Loves Crypto, But Hates Trading Fees
Marshall Islands to Issue Crypto Legal Tender, Sovereign (SOV) — A Global First
$1 Trillion Investment Management Company Getting Serious About Crypto

Visitors to the Etherscan.io website were panicking on Monday when faced with a pop-up indicating that the site had been hacked. The popular Ethereum blockchain-explorer quickly fixed the breach and no data was compromised — this time.


“1337”

The hacker was apparently able to implement the attack via code input into the comments section of the site.

This security vulnerability allowed the hacker to display a pop-up window to site-visitors bearing the message “1337” — hacking shorthand dating from the 1980s indicating that the attacker is an ‘elite’ or ‘leet’ hacker.

Etherscan users took to Twitter for more information on the hack and to warn others.

The comments section of the site was disabled, and a patch was developed and tested to address the issue.

On this occasion, it seems that the pop-up was the only intended consequence of the breach.

Benign

Hacks are a bit like cancer; the very word has the ability to strike fear into those that hear it. In reality, however, both can range in danger-level from completely benign to highly malicious. Despite this, no hack is ever particularly good news.

Etherscan is one of the most popular block-explorers for the Ethereum blockchain. It allows users to view, search, and understand the data on the public ledger. It does not offer a digital-wallet service, so user funds were never directly in jeopardy — but the hack could certainly have had far greater repercussions than it did.

Potential

Being able to execute code on the site gave the attacker the potential to manipulate the site as he or she saw fit. This could include embedding keyloggers or other malware or objectionable material. “It’s really down to your imagination at this point,” security researcher Scott Helme told Motherboard.

One risk particular to a site like this would be altering price graphs to make the blockchain look a certain way. This could trigger a buy/sell reaction, potentially causing a wider impact across the whole market.

Luckily, this hack has identified the security vulnerability, which can no longer be exploited for more nefarious purposes.

What do you think about the harmless Etherscan hack? Let us know in the comments below!


Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Twitter.

The post Etherscan Block-Explorer Hit by ‘Harmless’ Hack appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.



from Bitcoinist.com https://ift.tt/2mJL1w6
Name

Bitcoin News,5117,Bitcoinist.com,4741,Cryptocurrencies,4741,Cryptocurrencies Latest News,5117,Cryptocurrency Latest News,4741,Cryptocurrency News,9858,
ltr
item
Cryptocurrency Latest News: Etherscan Block-Explorer Hit by ‘Harmless’ Hack
Etherscan Block-Explorer Hit by ‘Harmless’ Hack
https://bitcoinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/shutterstock_1098457598-640x400.jpg
Cryptocurrency Latest News
http://cryptocurrencylatest.blogspot.com/2018/07/etherscan-block-explorer-hit-by.html
http://cryptocurrencylatest.blogspot.com/
http://cryptocurrencylatest.blogspot.com/
http://cryptocurrencylatest.blogspot.com/2018/07/etherscan-block-explorer-hit-by.html
true
1236144943044321696
UTF-8
Loaded All Posts Not found any posts VIEW ALL Readmore Reply Cancel reply Delete By Home PAGES POSTS View All RECOMMENDED FOR YOU LABEL ARCHIVE SEARCH ALL POSTS Not found any post match with your request Back Home Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat January February March April May June July August September October November December Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec just now 1 minute ago $$1$$ minutes ago 1 hour ago $$1$$ hours ago Yesterday $$1$$ days ago $$1$$ weeks ago more than 5 weeks ago Followers Follow THIS CONTENT IS PREMIUM Please share to unlock Copy All Code Select All Code All codes were copied to your clipboard Can not copy the codes / texts, please press [CTRL]+[C] (or CMD+C with Mac) to copy