While these reactions are necessary, they expose a dangerous flaw in cybersecurity thinking: preparing for the last attack rather than the next one.

The reality is stark: The next breach won’t look like the last one. Every major exploit introduces new tactics, bypasses existing safeguards, and exposes vulnerabilities that were previously unknown. Cybercriminals evolve faster than defenses, and nowhere is this more evident than in the sophisticated hacks we’ve seen in 2024.

The Lazarus Group: A State-Backed Cyber Menace

The FBI has confirmed that North Korea’s Lazarus Group orchestrated the Bybit hack. This isn’t just another cybercriminal syndicate - this is an advanced persistent threat (APT) group backed by a nation-state, leveraging military-grade hacking tactics to steal billions and fund illicit state operations.

As Keri Pearlson from MIT’s Cybersecurity Research Consortium put it:

"The good guys must protect against every possible vulnerability, while the bad guys only need one small crack in a company’s armor to get in."

This couldn’t be more relevant in Web3, where a single compromised wallet, a slight UI manipulation, or a blind signature can lead to catastrophic losses.

Anatomy of the Bybit Hack: A Multi-Layered Attack

Understanding what happened at Bybit reveals how advanced hackers are exploiting human and technical vulnerabilities in tandem.

1️. Initial Compromise

• The attackers infiltrated the computer of a Safe wallet developer through a supply chain attack.
• This allowed them to introduce a malicious transaction during the wallet’s deployment.

2️. UI Manipulation

• The hackers altered the Safe wallet frontend, tricking signers into approving fraudulent transactions that looked legitimate.
• This exploit made it impossible for signers to distinguish between a real and malicious transaction.

3️. Blind Signing

• Since cold wallets don’t display human-readable transaction details, signers blindly approved the fraudulent transaction.
• This method bypassed security checks that rely on manual verification.

4️. Instant Drain

• Within seconds, the attack was executed across four simultaneous transactions, draining funds before security teams could react.

This was not a brute force attack - it was a surgical, premeditated strike. And it could have been prevented.

The methods used in the Bybit hack were not new - even though the implementation was slightly different. Previous mega-hacks like WazirX ($235M) and Radiant Capital ($50M) also exploited compromised wallet signers, blind transaction approvals, and multisig vulnerabilities, allowing attackers to bypass security measures and drain funds undetected.

How This Could Have Been Stopped

Most security solutions focus on reactive measures, identifying breaches after they occur. But what if you could stop an attack before it happens? This is exactly what Cyvers Interceptor does.

🔍 How Cyvers’ Pre-Transaction Threat Simulation Works

1️. Analyzes transaction parameters in real-time, detecting malicious payloads before execution.
2️. Simulates the final state of the transaction, ensuring it matches the expected outcome.
3️. Uses real-time threat intelligence to classify blockchain interactions and flag high-risk delegation calls.

💡 Key Insight: The malicious smart contract used in this attack was detected by Cyvers two days prior to the hack. Had Bybit implemented Pre-Chain Interceptor, it would have flagged:
⚠️ “High-risk delegation call detected - fund loss imminent!”

This early warning would have halted the attack before execution, preventing Bybit’s losses and preserving user trust.

‍

Cyvers interceptor’s analysis of the Bybit hack

‍

Cyvers interceptor’s analysis of the WazirX hack

‍

‍

The Future of Web3 Security: Preparing for the Unknown

The Bybit attack isn’t an anomaly - it’s a blueprint for what’s coming next.
🔹 900% increase in CeFi exchange hacks in 2024.
🔹 $2.3 billion lost in Web3 security breaches in 2024.

The battle for Web3 security isn’t about fixing past mistakes - it’s about preventing what we don’t yet know.
That requires AI-driven preemptive prevention that prevents threats before they execute.

🔒 Don’t train for yesterday’s battle - equip yourself for all future threats, known and unknown.

➡️ Schedule a demo with Cyvers today

‍

‍