MyEtherWallet Hola VPN Attack
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MyEtherWallet (MEW), a widely-used service for managing cryptocurrencies, experienced a security issue due to a compromise of the Hola VPN service. Hola is a free VPN used by nearly 50 million users. During a five-hour window, Hola users who accessed their MEW wallets with the VPN on might have been exposed to a malicious attack aimed at stealing crypto. Regular MEW users were not affected, as the MEW service itself was not compromised. MEW recommended that users who used the site and VPN in the past 24 hours transfer their tokens to a new wallet.
This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.[1][2][3]
About MyEtherWallet
"MEW is one of the most popular wallet services on the internet, but other options include MyCrypto — a service launched by a former MEW co-founder — and Imtoken, which is run by a China-based company that recently raised $10 million from investors."
"MyEtherWallet, one of the internet’s most popular services for managing cryptocurrencies, suffered a serious security issue for the second time this year after a widely-used VPN service was compromised for five hours.
MyEtherWallet (MEW) is used to access crypto wallets and send and receive tokens to/from other wallets. Today, it warned that users of its service who utilize the Hola, a free VPN which plugs into browsers and claims nearly 50 million users, may have been caught up in a malicious attack to steal crypto. Regulars users of MEW were not impacted by the breach because the MEW service itself wasn’t compromised.
The company said that Hola was compromised for a period of five hours, during which time any Hola users who navigated to MEW and accessed their wallet with the VPN switched on may have been affected. MEW is recommending anyone who used the site and VPN in the last 24 hours to transfer their tokens to a new wallet… assuming that they still have access to them.
The incident is a good reminder of why it is better to pay for a VPN service rather than use a free one. Back in 2015, Hola was accused of performing DDoS attacks “on demand” surreptitiously for paying clients using the computing power of its users so the writing has been on the wall.
MEW pointed TechCrunch to statements on Twitter when asked for comment on the incident. The company said the attack “appeared to be a Russian-based IP address.”
“The safety and security of MEW users is our priority. We’d like to remind our users that we do not hold their personal data, including passwords so they can be assured that the hackers would not get their hands on that information if they have not interacted with the Hola chrome extension in the past day,” MEW added.
We contacted Hola for comment but had not heard back from the company at the time of writing."
This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.
The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.
Include:
- Known history of when and how the service was started.
- What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
- What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
- Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
- Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
- How were people recruited to participate?
- Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.
Don't Include:
- Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
- Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.
There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.
The Reality
This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:
- When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
- Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
- How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
- Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.
What Happened
The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.
| Date | Event | Description |
|---|---|---|
| July 9th, 2018 10:39:00 PM MDT | Twitter Warning | MyEtherWallet posts a warning on Twitter. |
| July 10th, 2018 12:29:37 AM MDT | TechCrunch Article | TechCrunsh reports on it. |
Technical Details
This section includes specific detailed technical analysis of any security breaches which happened. What specific software vulnerabilities contributed to the problem and how were they exploited?
Total Amount Lost
The total amount lost is unknown.
How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?
Immediate Reactions
How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?
Ultimate Outcome
What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?
Total Amount Recovered
There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.
What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?
Ongoing Developments
What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?
Individual Prevention Policies
No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.
For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.
Platform Prevention Policies
Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.
For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.
Regulatory Prevention Policies
No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.
For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.
References
- ↑ MyEtherWallet hit by attack after Hola VPN gets hacked : talkcrypto (Oct 17, 2022)
- ↑ Popular crypto service MyEtherWallet hit by attack after Hola VPN gets hacked | TechCrunch (Aug 23, 2023)
- ↑ @myetherwallet Twitter (Aug 23, 2023)