The complete set instructions have been circulated amongst users and the Arcade team — the team created a GITHUB listing specifying what happened and how users can receive a refund — is encouraging users to read through, adopt and carry out the process accurately.
As the clock struck midnight on the eve of the New Year, cybercriminals had already begun executing a significant heist in the digital world. Benefiting from a precisely-timed attack, they penetrated Orbit Chain’s protocol and allegedly made off with an astonishing $81.5 million in various cryptocurrencies. Upon learning of this unsettling breach, the Orbit Chain team quickly collaborated with law enforcement and international security firms to address the crisis and investigate its root cause as the world celebrated the arrival of the new year.
Discussing the alarming implications presented by this heist, influential voices in the crypto world, including those under handles like @officer_cia, commented online concerning the situation.
SlowMist, already immensely reputed in blockchain security, then conducted an initial external investigation. Reporting results elbow-deep in data, it suggested two potential causes: a security breach in the Orbit Chain bridge or a compromised centralized server.
In the aftermath of the event, the collective work of hackers, law enforcement personnel, security experts, and other members of the crypto community was easily laser-focused towards understanding the incident. To understand how the theft was executed, logging companies Arkham Intelligence delved into the crevices of available information, ultimately revealing that five distinct transactions coalesced to steal away more than $81 million.
Reportedly, since it debuted in South Korea in 2018, Orbit Chain was known for its accelerated cross-chain operations and Astro Asset interchange. With strong ties to Klaytn, a layer-1 blockchain platform, Orbit Chain had become Klaytn’s largest supplier of bridge protocol, although this would not be a morbid statistic. In response to the incident, Klaytn reached out with its diligence, offering Orbit Chain active communication in order to turn this crisis into a lesson in the future.
Relaying data baked into the more villainous lacks of the overalls situation, Slowmist pointed out that the Orbit Chain heist honed in on drastic data of $81.68 million during the attack, shooting the yearly loss of digital freezer-burns in 2023 to an astounding total outflow of over $2.4 billion.
In response, Orbit Chain formulated a framework for reparation and community remedy, detailed instructions of which have been circulated among users (viewable via the Arcade team’s GITHUB page). Through further internal investigation to uncover the root cause of the attack, a vulnerability assessment, and user eligibility screening, Orbit Chain seeks to protect its users from future repercussions.
