Tag Archive for: Bridge

Over $2 Billion Stolen This Year In Blockchain Bridge Hacks Expose DeFi’s Achilles Heel

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If 2018 was the Year of the Hack for centralized crypto exchanges, decentralized blockchain bridges seem destined to win that honor this year.

Over $1.9 billion was stolen in cross-chain hacks in the first half of 2022, according to a new blog post by crypto analytic firm Chainalysis.

Cross-chain bridges have come under fire in recent weeks for their vulnerability. At their core, bridges allow users to exchange one token for another, say BNBBNB
 (Binance’s token) for ethereum; they are the key to expanding operability across blockchains.

“Having that interoperability is crucial,” says Kim Grauer, head of research at Chainalysis.

But in order to function, bridges must hold large amounts of both tokens. Such liquidity pools make them enticing to hackers. Bridges “allow for blockchains to talk,” says Grauer. “But we’ve also created these honey pots for malicious actors.”

“Regardless of how those funds are stored–locked up in a smart contract or with a centralized custodian–that storage point becomes a target,” she adds.

Their vulnerability may also be a result of DeFi growing too much, too fast. Cross-chain bridges, says Amit Dar, senior director of strategy at cybersecurity firm Active Fence, are “kind of afterthoughts.”

“Effective bridge design is still an unresolved technical challenge, with many new models being developed and tested,” adds Grauer.

Still, the bridges have become staples of decentralized finance, and as long as they remain vulnerable, hacks will also be commonplace.

“The promise of DeFi was that we could have trustless finance,” says Sam William, CEO of ArweaveAR
, a blockchain start-up behind the permaweb which aims to preserve Internet content. “But instead people have ended up trusting the marketing and subsequently trusting the code without verifying it.”

As DeFi grows, this “painful lesson,” as Grauer puts it, is costing users unprecedented amounts of money. Thefts in the first half of this year were up 58% from the corresponding 2021 period. “This trend doesn’t appear set to reverse anytime soon,”…

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Police arrest protesters who remained at US-Canada bridge :: WRAL.com

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By ROB GILLIES and COREY WILLIAMS, Associated Press

WINDSOR, Ontario — Police moved in to clear and arrest the remaining protesters near the busiest U.S.-Canadian border crossing on Sunday, ending a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions that has hurt the economy of both nations even as they held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa.

Local and national police formed a joint command center in Ottawa, where protests have paralyzed downtown, infuriated residents who are fed up with police inaction and turned up pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The protests have reverberated across the country and beyond, with similar convoys in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned that truck convoys may be in the works in the United States.

Windsor police said about 12 people were peacefully arrested and seven vehicles were towed just after dawn near the Ambassador Bridge that links their city — and numerous Canadian automotive plants — with Detroit.

“Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end,” said Windsor’s Mayor Drew Dilkens, who expressed hope the bridge would reopen Sunday. “Border crossings will reopen when it is safe to do so and I defer to police and border agencies to make that determination.

But the bridge remained closed late Sunday afternoon as a snowstorm hit the area.

Only a few protesters had remained after police on Saturday persuaded demonstrators to move the pickup trucks and cars they had used to block a crossing that sees 25% of all trade between the two countries.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on Sunday acknowledged the seemingly peaceful resolution to the demonstration, which it said had “widespread damaging impacts” on the “lives and livelihoods of people” on both sides of the border.

“We stand ready to support our Canadian partners wherever useful in order to ensure the restoration of the normal free flow of commerce can resume,” Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall said in a statement.

In Ottawa, the ranks of protesters swelled to what…

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Need to bridge digital divide, promote digital security awareness in estate sector

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From left: Uva Shakthi Foundation Chairman Suresh Nadesan receiving trilingual reports of the study that was carried out by journalists and researchers Kalavarshny Kanagaratnam and Sara Pathirana 


By Kalavarshny Kanagaratnam and 

Sara Pathirana

It is imperative, especially in this digital age, that everyone makes an effort to understand what it means to be safe online. From the moment we click a button and publish content and other information on the internet, it has already made its way to the worldwide web where the entire world can witness it and consume it. With the ascent of the recent pandemic and the way it has eased us all into a new normal where an even larger number of people around the world heavily began to rely on the internet and using it as a tool to get their work done without needing to worry about the challenges that arrived with the COVID-19 restrictions. Alongside this, the importance of digital security and our safety online too, has been heightened. 

With more people embracing the internet as technology advances, individuals look towards online activities such as hacking into social media and email accounts and stealing sensitive data from its owners. Data, people’s identities and personal images tend to be stolen and used for committing other malicious activities. Many people around the world have already faced and suffered from such problems. Women in particular are increasingly vulnerable to online threats such as cyberbullying. Therefore, it is very important to be aware of the concept of digital security.


Digital security in the estate sector


Digital Security is a collective term that describes the resources employed towards protecting one’s online identity, data, and other assets. These tools include web services, antivirus software, smartphone SIM cards, biometrics, and secured personal devices. In other words, digital security is the process used to protect one’s presence and identity online. Due to a lack of awareness about digital security, many cases of data theft and cyber violence are reported on a daily basis. 

When considering Sri Lanka’s context, the Western province in particular and other nearby provinces would usually…

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Sri Lanka – The need to bridge the digital divide and promot…

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(MENAFN– Colombo Gazette)

By Kalavarshny Kanagaratnam and Sara Pathirana

It is imperative, especially in this digital age, that everyone makes an effort to understand what it means to be safe online. From the moment we click a button and publish content and other information on the internet, it has already made its way to the worldwide web where the entire world can witness it and consume it. With the ascent of the recent pandemic and the way it has eased us all into a new normal where an even larger number of people around the world heavily began to rely on the internet and using it as a tool to get their work done without needing to worry about the challenges that arrived with the covid-19 restrictions. Alongside this, the importance of digital security and our safety online too, has been heightened.

With more people embracing the internet as technology advances, individuals look towards online activities such as hacking into social media and email accounts and stealing sensitive data from its owners. Data, people’s identities and personal images tend to be stolen and used for committing other malicious activities. Many people around the world have already faced and suffered from such problems. Women in particular are increasingly vulnerable to online threats such as cyberbullying. Therefore, it is very important to be aware of the concept of digital security.

Digital Security in the Estate Sector

Digital Security is a collective term that describes the resources employed towards protecting ones’ online identity, data, and other assets. These tools include web services, antivirus software, smartphone SIM cards, biometrics, and secured personal devices. In other words, digital security is the process used to protect ones’ presence and identity online. Due to a lack of awareness about digital security, many cases of data theft and cyber violence are reported on a daily basis.

When considering Sri Lanka’s context, the Western province in particular and other nearby provinces would usually showcase a larger number of internet users who are tech-savvy and vigilant to a certain extent. Even then, issues continue to persist. But, can the…

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