KickICO data breach sees attackers steal over $7 million from platform

• The attackers gained access to KickCoin smart contract owner’s private key.
• The platform has vowed to return all the stolen funds to KickCoin holders.

The ICO platform KickICO was hit by hackers earlier this month. The attack resulted in the attackers making away with around $7.7 million worth of KickCoin. The attack occurred on 26 July and involved cybercriminals gaining access to the KickICO platform’s tokens - the Kick smart contract.

The platform was alerted to the attack by several victims, who reported that their tokens had suddenly disappeared. Around $ 800,000 worth of tokens was initially found to be missing. KickICO later determined that a total of around $7.7 million worth of cryptocurrency was stolen by the attackers.

“The hackers gained access to the private key of the owner of the KickCoin smart contract,” KickICO said in a statement. “In order to hide the results of their activities, they employed methods used by the KickCoin smart contract in integration with the Bancor network: hackers destroyed tokens at approximately 40 addresses and created tokens at the other 40 addresses in the corresponding amount.”

The ICO platform said that it has fully restored control over its smart contract account. KickICO is also asking all those who have been affected by the attack to email them at report@kickico.com. The firm has vowed to return all of the stolen funds back to KickCoin owners.

“Thanks to the rapid response of our community and our coordinated team work, we were able to regain control over the tokens and prevent further possible losses by replacing the compromised private key with the private key of the cold storage,” KickICO added. “At the moment the problem is completely eliminated, the wallets of KickCoin holders are safe.”

The identity of the attackers still remains unknown. The rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies has resulted in numerous such attacks. Over the past year, cybercriminals have been increasingly targeting cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges. Security experts believe that the anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies and the ease with which they can be traded or converted is highly attractive to cybercriminals.