Cointelegraph Website Hacked Promoting Fake ICO Airdrops

Cointelegraph, a prominent crypto news company, experienced a security breach today, with attackers taking over the front-end of its website to promote fake Initial Coin Offering (ICO) airdrops. Users reported seeing fraudulent pop-ups on the homepage, falsely claiming to offer "CoinTelegraph ICO Airdrops" and "CTG tokens."

In response to the incident, Cointelegraph's official X handle issued a warning to users, advising them not to click on any pop-ups, connect their wallets, or share personal information. The platform is actively working to resolve the breach and restore normal operations.

At the time of publishing, visitors to Cointelegraph's official domain who have installed the MetaMask wallet were greeted with a critical warning message. This message cautioned users that opening the website could risk their secret recovery phrases or passwords, or potentially urge them to sign malicious transactions, leading to the theft of assets.

The phishing scam bears a striking resemblance to a recent attack on CoinMarketCap, where users suffered significant financial losses after connecting their wallets to malicious sites. In both cases, hackers exploited front-end vulnerabilities on the homepages of these platforms, suggesting that the same hacker entity may be responsible for both incidents.

This breach coincides with a massive data leak reported on June 21, where over 16 billion login credentials were exposed. Cybersecurity experts suggest that this data breach could be linked to infostealer malware, further amplifying the risk for crypto users. The timing of these events raises concerns about the potential for coordinated attacks targeting the crypto community.

This incident underscores the ongoing threat of cyberattacks in the crypto space and the importance of vigilance for both users and platforms. As the crypto ecosystem continues to grow, so too does the need for robust security measures to protect against such threats. Users are advised to remain cautious and verify the authenticity of any airdrops or token offers before taking any action.