Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson expressed delight as the network thwarted a DDoS attack, causing the hacker to lose funds. The Cardano network faced a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack designed to overwhelm it with spam traffic. Raul Antonio, CTO of Fluid Token, noted the invasion began at block 10,487,530. Each transaction in this block triggered 194 smart contracts, with the attacker filling each block with multiple transactions to pressure the network. Notably, the hacker expended 0.9 ADA per transaction.
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Counter-Strategy Implemented
During the exploit, Phillip Disarro, CEO of Anastasia Labs, proposed a counter-strategy. He suggested deregistering the stake credentials used by the attacker, allowing anyone to claim their 400 ADA. This tactic effectively stopped the DDoS attack. Disarro stated that restarting the attack would require the attacker to obtain another 400 ADA, but others could siphon funds from them again using the same method.
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In a follow-up update, Disarro disclosed that the hacker suspended their assault after reading his warning, but it was too late. Their funds were already drained. Ironically, the attacker, who aimed to harm the ecosystem, ended up losing funds instead.
Community Reactions
This twist of fate sparked widespread reactions within the community, giving Cardano proponents more reason to laud the network’s resilience. One community member commented with a breakdown of the events, praising the network for navigating the issue effectively. Hoskinson responded to this commentary with a cheerful GIF, smiling widely and giving a thumbs-up.
Significantly, the drained funds from the attacker were donated to an open-source smart contract project Anastasia Labs is working on. The Cardano network functioned as intended during the exploit, with no impact on its liveliness. Validators handled the transactions with ease, showing no stress under the test. Interestingly, the price of ADA rallied amid the news of the DDoS attack on Cardano.
Cardano’s resilience and strategic countermeasures not only thwarted the DDoS attack but also turned the tables on the attacker, showcasing the network’s robustness and capability to handle such threats.