Drift Protocol Reports $280 Million Loss After Security Council Takeover
Summary
Drift Protocol says an attacker used durable nonce accounts and pre-signed transactions to seize Security Council control and drain funds. Drift estimates losses at $280 million; PeckShield estimates $285 million. Operations are largely frozen as recovery efforts begin.
Key points
- Drift says the attacker prepared the operation between March 23 and 30, setting up durable nonce accounts and obtaining 2/5 multisig approvals.
- The attacker reportedly executed pre-signed malicious transactions on April 1 after a legitimate transaction, taking administrative control within minutes.
- After gaining control, the attacker added a malicious asset, removed withdrawal limits and drained funds.
- Drift estimates losses at about $280 million; blockchain-tracking account PeckShieldAlert estimates $285 million.
- Drift says borrow/lend deposits, vault deposits and trading funds were affected, leaving protocol functions essentially frozen; it says DSOL and insurance fund assets are secure.
- Drift says no program or smart contract flaws or seed phrase compromises were involved.
- Drift is working with security firms, exchanges and law enforcement to trace and freeze funds, and says it will publish a post-mortem.
Article Details
- Victim Organization
- Drift Protocol
- Incident Type
- Unauthorized administrative takeover of the Security Council followed by theft of cryptocurrency funds
- Affected Data Size
- Drift estimated losses at about $280 million; PeckShieldAlert estimated $285 million in stolen funds.
- Operational Impact
- Borrow/lend deposits, vault deposits, and trading funds were affected. Drift said protocol functions were essentially frozen while it worked with security firms, exchanges, and law enforcement to trace and freeze the stolen funds.
- Ransom Or Extortion
- Unknown; no ransom or extortion details are provided.
- Claim Status
- confirmed