Who says major leaders in the crypto industry are invincible and can escape the eyes of malicious hackers?

Renowned Ethereum visionary, Vitalik Buterin, recently found himself ensnared in an X (formerly known as Twitter) debacle of alarming proportions.

In a cunning act of cyber intrusion, a hacker infiltrated Vitalik's account, orchestrating a digital heist that absconded with an astonishing $691,000 from unsuspecting users who had innocently clicked on a corrupted link shared on his feed.

This disconcerting breach came to light on when a deceptive post materialised on Vitalik's Twitter, heralding the launch of a collection of commemorative non-fungible tokens (NFTs) by the reputable software provider, Consensys.

The malevolent link embedded within this announcement had the potential to reach an extensive audience, as it was displayed to Vitalik's substantial base of 4.9 million followers.

The unsuspecting victims, lured by the prospect of securing these coveted NFTs, unwittingly fell into the hacker's well-laid trap.

What they believed to be a harmless process to mint NFTs swiftly transformed into a sinister mechanism, enabling the cybercriminal to siphon their hard-earned funds into an abyss of illicit gains.

Who Was The First Confirmed That Vitalik’s Account Was Hacked?

Within the ecosystem of Crypto Twitter, a vigilant community swiftly sounded the alarm upon detecting a spurious link circulating in the digital domain.

However, the first discernible acknowledgement of the intrusion into Vitalik 's account emerged from an unexpected source — his own father, Dmitriy "Dima" Buterin.

Regrettably, the contentious post has since been expunged from the platform, but the repercussions reverberated far and wide.

A multitude of unfortunate victims reported irrevocable losses, as their digital wallets were ruthlessly compromised.

In the initial hour following the breach, the hacker appeared to have brazenly seized a sum exceeding $147,000.

Yet, within an alarmingly brief timeframe, this malicious tally burgeoned to a staggering $691,000, as astutely tracked by blockchain investigator ZachXBT.

Despite the rapid dissemination of this distressing news, Vitalik himself has maintained a conspicuous silence regarding the incident.

Intriguingly, ZachXBT reported a puzzling twist to the narrative, disclosing that the hacker, in an audacious move, forwarded a purloined non-fungible token (NFT) to Vitalik.

What Was One Of The More Notable Losses?

Significantly, Ethereum developer BookyPooBah suffered a substantial setback in the form of two missing CryptoPunks, specifically #3983 and #1751, as part of a broader portfolio of pilfered NFTs.

Among these ill-fated digital collectibles were notable pieces like Milady 4755, Meebit #9965, and Meridian #918.

Increasing Concerns Over X’s Security

This incident shines a spotlight on the escalating issue of phishing scams plaguing the X platform, a trend that has alarmingly surged in the current year.

Esteemed figures within the cryptocurrency realm, such as ZachXBT and Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of Binance, have voiced their mounting apprehensions concerning the proliferation of such cybercriminal activities.

They draw attention to a disconcerting pattern where malevolent actors, employing verified bots, strategically zero in on influential accounts to propagate their deceitful links.

CZ pointed out that:

“It needs quite a bit more features: 2FA, login ID should be different from handle or email, etc.,” wrote Zhao, referring to two-factor authentication. “In the past, I have had my Twitter account locked a few times due to hackers trying to brute-force it (trying different passwords repeatedly). This was before the 'Elon era.'”

A notable countermeasure in the battle against such threats is the implementation of two-factor authentication (2FA), a widely advocated security practice that necessitates users to provide two separate pieces of information to verify their identity before gaining access to their accounts.

While this protective measure is indeed endorsed by Twitter, it bears noting that it is exclusively available to users enrolled in the paid subscription service, Twitter Blue.

Additionally, the nefarious technique known as "brute forcing" looms as another menacing tactic in the arsenal of hackers.

This method involves relentless bombardment of an account with a barrage of access requests, persistently probing for vulnerabilities until an illicit entry point is uncovered.