Symbiotic Finance Official Twitter Account Phishing
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Symbiotic is a base layer for facilitating secure restaking. On October 4th, their Twitter account was compromised and posted a phishing link. The account was ultimately recovered a few days later. It is unclear if anyone fell for the phishing attack.[1][2][3][4][5]
About Symbiotic Finance
"Symbiotic is a shared security protocol that serves as a thin coordination layer, empowering network builders to control and adapt their own (re)staking implementation in a permissionless manner."
"Networks control all aspects of their (re)staking implementation, including collateral assets supported, node operator selection mechanics, rewards, slashing, and associated resolving mechanisms. All participants can flexibly opt in and out of shared security arrangements coordinated through Symbiotic."
"Non-upgradeable core contracts on Ethereum remove external governance risks and single points of failure. Our simple yet flexible contract design minimizes execution layer risks."
"A permissionless, multi-asset, and network-agnostic design enables scalable and capital-efficient sourcing of economic security. An evolving operator-centric cross-network reputation system will further enhance capital efficiency for network builders."
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
Phishing links were posted on the official Twitter of the Symbiotic Finance protocol.
| Date | Event | Description |
|---|---|---|
| October 4th, 2024 4:00:00 PM MDT | Official Time Of Compromise | The official time of compromise according to the portmortem. |
| October 4th, 2024 6:35:00 PM MDT | evilcos Twitter Post | The Twitter user evilcos posts about the Symbiotic phishing site on Twitter. |
| October 7th, 2024 11:26:00 AM MDT | Twitter Restoration Update | The Twitter account appears to be restored and announces a postmortem will be coming. |
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
"The official X account of the staking protocol Symbiotic has been suspected of being hacked. The hacker has already posted a fake phishing link. Please do not interact with it."
"Note that @symbioticfi has been stolen and keeps posting phishing links. As shown in the picture, although it looks like it comes from a normal official domain, it will jump to a phishing domain after clicking in. It's an old trick."
Ultimate Outcome
"Around 2024/10/04 22:00 UTC, The @symbioticfi X account was compromised by an unknown threat actor who began posting links to phishing pages designed to mimic our website. Within 15 minutes of becoming aware of the compromise, we engaged @_SEAL_Org, independent security consultants, and X Support to help us investigate and contain the issue. Based on our investigation, the incident did not affect the website or core smart contracts, and all of those funds are intact.
We take security very seriously, and the trust of our users is a top priority. We follow leading industry security protocols, including non-SMS 2FA, and conduct all interactions with X through a sandboxed environment. We are investigating our Google Workspace logs, possible reset flows, MFA settings, and corporate devices, and we are currently not aware of any evidence indicating a breach of our systems or compromise of employee credentials. However, our investigation is ongoing, and we will provide updates on any additional relevant findings as necessary.
The investigation also revealed that a domain had been purchased by the threat actors on September 19, 2024, which was designed to look identical to the domain used for our X account. Furthermore, a Google Workspace account had been created on the domain and was designed to impersonate the email that owned the corporate X account.
While we have regained access to our X account, we are continuing to investigate the incident. At this time, we have not ruled out any potential avenues of recourse and are exploring all options to hold the threat actors accountable. As part of our ongoing efforts, we intend to notify and cooperate with the appropriate legal authorities to aid in their investigation. We will continue to provide updates as new relevant information becomes available and assure you that we are doing everything in our power to address this situation.
In the wake of this event, we are introducing a public Telegram announcement channel to provide an additional public platform for official communications. The link is available on our official domain."
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
- ↑ @evilcos Twitter (Accessed Nov 5, 2024)
- ↑ Symbiotic - Permissionless Restaking (Accessed Nov 5, 2024)
- ↑ Symbiotic intro | Symbiotic (Accessed Nov 5, 2024)
- ↑ @symbioticfi Twitter (Accessed Nov 5, 2024)
- ↑ @symbioticfi Twitter (Accessed Nov 5, 2024)