Cysic Freezes Crypto Bridge After Hacker Creates 10M Fake Tokens

Cysic paused its cross-chain bridge after an attacker exploited a flaw to mint 10 million CYS tokens. Investigation is ongoing.

A crypto project called Cysic has hit the pause button on part of its network after a hacker managed to create 10 million new tokens out of thin air. Here's what happened in plain English.

First, some basics. Cysic runs a "bridge" (a tool that lets crypto move between different blockchain networks, like a connector between two highways). Its token is called CYS, which is used to reward users, computer-power providers, and people who help run the network.

What went wrong? On Saturday, October 17, an attacker found a weakness in how the bridge processes messages. Using this flaw, they illegally "minted" (created brand-new) 10 million CYS tokens on the BNB Smart Chain (a popular blockchain network run by the Binance exchange). Early findings suggest the hacker got unauthorized access to a database that supports the bridge.

Key facts:

The fake tokens were minted at 12:31 UTC on Oct. 17
Cysic blocked the hacker's address about 75 minutes later (at 13:47 UTC)
About 2.8 million CYS was still stuck at that address when it was frozen
There are roughly 160.8 million CYS tokens in circulation overall

The good news: Cysic says the attack only affected the bridge's token-creation process. It did not steal or touch any existing tokens or assets sitting in users' wallets. The project's main network (its "mainnet") was also unaffected.

What's still unclear: The company stressed that the 10 million figure does not equal the actual dollar loss. Why? Because it's still figuring out how many of those fake tokens the hacker managed to sell or move before being blocked. The real financial damage is still being investigated.

What happens next? Cysic has hired an outside security firm to dig into the incident and promises to publish a full follow-up report once the investigation wraps up.

Bottom line: This is a reminder that crypto bridges remain a common target for hackers. While user wallets appear safe this time, the full cost of the attack is still being counted.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://cointelegraph.com/news/cysic-crypto-bridge-halted-after-unauthorized-mint-of-10m-cys?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound