The Galxe website, a platform for the Web3 community, experienced an hour-long outage on October 6 due to a security breach. Galxe confirmed on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that its Domain Name System (DNS) record had been compromised, cautioning users against visiting the domain until the issue was resolved.
Although Galxe had not yet confirmed the safety of its website at the time of writing, some users reported that it was being blocked by Google after being restored. According to one Web3 cybersecurity service, the DNS records of Galxe were altered to redirect users to a phishing website that aimed to steal their wallets.
Crypto detective ZachXBT revealed that funds were being stolen from Galxe, and even after the website was back online, the wallet linked to the exploit continued to accumulate funds. DeBank reported that the total amount in the wallet reached approximately $160,000 by 17:15 UTC. ZachXBT suggested a connection between the Galxe exploiter and the party responsible for attacking the Balancer protocol on September 19, which marked the second attack on Balancer within a month.
The attack on Balancer resulted in losses of $238,000 and was labeled a social engineering attack on its DNS server carried out by a crypto wallet drainer referred to as Angel Drainer. Blockchain security firm SlowMist speculated that the attacker was associated with Russia. Another incident of note in the Web3 space was the Mixin hack on September 25, which accounted for the largest loss in the third quarter of 2023.
According to a recent report from security platform Immunefi, Web3 projects experienced a significant increase in losses during the third quarter compared to the same period in 2022. Attacks rose from 30% to 76% year-on-year, resulting in losses of nearly $686 million in Q3 2023.
At 21:25 UTC, a spokesperson for Galxe provided a statement to Cointelegraph, stating that the website was offline and would be brought back online once the correct DNS records were propagated globally. The statement assured users that their funds and information were safe as long as no transactions had been approved on Galxe in the past eight hours. Galxe also mentioned that they had regained domain ownership and strengthened security measures with domain registrar service Dynadot. Furthermore, Galxe stated that they had engaged with law enforcement authorities to address the breach.
In conclusion, the Galxe website experienced a security breach that resulted in an hour-long outage. Users were warned not to access the domain until the issue was resolved. The incident highlighted the growing challenges faced by Web3 platforms and the increasing frequency of attacks. The Galxe breach was linked to the previous attack on the Balancer protocol, and losses in the Web3 space have skyrocketed in recent months. Galxe assured its users that their funds and information remained safe and that they were taking necessary measures to prevent future breaches.
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