Recent events have brought to light significant incidents in the cybersecurity realm, including a hack on the Pepe creator's projects, the spread of a new trojan, and the arrest of high-profile hackers.
Hack on Matt Furie's Projects
Several cryptocurrency projects associated with Matt Furie, the creator of Pepe the Frog, were hacked by North Korean hackers, resulting in losses totaling over $1 million. According to on-chain detective ZachXBT, attackers withdrew approximately $310,000 from the Replicandy, Peplicator, Hedz, and Zogz collections created by Furie's team on the ChainSaw platform. More than $680,000 was stolen from the Favrr project.
The hackers gained access to smart contracts, removed restrictions on token issuance, and minted NFTs, which they later sold, causing the value of these assets to drop to zero.
ZachXBT speculates that the attacks are linked to North Korean developers hired through freelance platforms.
SparkKitty Trojan Targets Cryptocurrency Wallet Passphrases
A new SparkKitty trojan is being distributed via fake app store websites. It masquerades as cryptocurrency applications and modified versions of TikTok, according to Kaspersky Lab.
Once installed, the malware requests access to the photo gallery, tracks changes, creates a local database of stolen images, and uploads them to a remote server. The main goal of the attackers is to find screenshots of cryptocurrency wallet seed phrases.
Currently, the trojan primarily targets residents of China and Southeast Asia.
IntelBroker Hacker and BreachForums Operators Arrested in France
The hacker known as IntelBroker and several operators of BreachForums were arrested in France. The U.S. Justice Department filed charges against 25-year-old British citizen Kai West, known by his hacker alias IntelBroker, and announced his arrest in February 2025 in France.
U.S. authorities are seeking his extradition on charges of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and electronic fraud. Using the cryptocurrency wallet address, law enforcement identified West's accounts on the Ramp platform and Coinbase, and found scans of personal documents in the linked email.
Recent events highlight the increasing threats in cybersecurity, including targeted attacks on crypto projects and the importance of protecting user data.
