OpenSea has been trending on the internet because 32 users of its platform were hit by a string of phishing attacks on Saturday.
Contrary to what this sounds and looks like, the NFT platform is not a place where users store actual money, so the attack was not aimed at actual cash but assets. Still it doesn’t change the fact that people have lost valuables. We’ll explain.
What Is OpenSea And What Valuables Are Stored On Its Platform
OpenSea is a digital marketplace built solely for trading non-fungible tokens (NFTs). A lot of things can be traded as NFTs such as images, artwork, songs and so much more.
NFTs are digital signs of ownership to a digital asset, and they are stored on the Blockchain. In fact, anything can be an NFT as long as it is sold, and its “certificate of ownership” is stored on the Blockchain. Today, most people relate NFTs with, only artworks! While artworks are not the only things that can be sold as NFTs, they are one of the most common NFTs on OpenSea.
Now, the elephant in the room. Why will anyone want to rob users of OpenSea via a phishing attack when money isn’t stored on the platform? The said attackers were going for the assets sold on the platform!
The major means of exchange on OpenSea is Ethereum (ETH), although there are a few other cryptocurrencies used as well. Certain assets on OpenSea are worth millions of dollars, for example, the Beeple NFT artwork that sold for $69.3 million. So, you can now see that these hackers were aiming big, as the phishing attack swept over $1.7 million worth of NFTs from various users.
How Is OpenSea Handling The Issue On Ground, How Can Users Stay Safe
The amount of money stolen in form of digital assets is large, hence it can not be handled lightly. The management of the NFT trading platform has swung into action; conducting investigations in a bid to recover what was lost in the phishing attack
A phishing attack is one of the various forms of social engineering attacks aimed at obtaining user sensitive information from unsuspecting victims. This addresses the blame some members of the public put on OpenSea. In this phishing attack, OpenSea was not at fault in the event of the attack on its users.
With phishing attacks, hackers try to lure innocent users into divulging their private information or installing malware which will cause further harm. So, for users to stay safe from such dangerous attacks;
- Try to be more careful about the links you open via email or direct social media messages.
- Do not visit any website that your Chrome, Edge, or Safari browser tag as not being safe.
- Install a good firewall.
- Do not install applications from unknown sources.
- Use antivirus software.
- Keep your private information (such as passwords, etc) safe.
- Avoid clicking on pop-up ads while browsing the internet.
The NFT trading platform was sure to remind users after the attack to be careful about the link they open and websites they visit, as these can be bait set by hackers to gain access to their valuable items.
