Ethena Labs halts website after frontend hack

Hackers attacked synthetic dollar issuer Ethena, but noted that the protocol’s underlying blockchain infrastructure was not compromised.

On September 18, malicious actors successfully infiltrated the website of decentralized finance service provider Ethena Labs (ENA). The team’s warning clarified that only the front-end UI was affected and that funds were neither at risk nor depleted.

As of this writing, crypto.news’ attempts to determine how the hackers gained access to the project’s website administration console have gone unanswered. Users are advised to avoid affiliate links and close wallets until further notice.

The Ethena domain registrar account was recently compromised and we have taken steps to disable the site until further notice.

The protocol was not affected and the funds are safe.

Please do not interact with any site or application that claims to be an Ethena frontend.

— Ethena Labs (@ethena_labs) September 18, 2024

Ethena is one of the largest operators of synthetic dollars in DeFi. Its collateralized, dollar-pegged token has a $2.6 billion supply, most of which is issued on Ethereum (ETH), according to DefiLlama. However, a new player could challenge the protocol’s market share in the coming months. Crypto market maker DWF Labs said work on its synthetic dollar offering is progressing past the design phase.

Hackers Target Ethena and DeFi

Ethena and several other DeFi protocols have suffered breaches at different layers. In some cases, hackers attacked on-chain endpoints and exploited smart contract bugs to steal funds.

In response, malicious actors are increasingly targeting web2 services used by web3 startups. Like domain registrar Ethena, criminals also attacked websites belonging to Celer Network and Compound Finance in July.

The most common attack typically involves launching phishing campaigns via compromised X-pages. Earlier this month, hackers gained access to layer-1 blockchain Near Protocol (NEAR) and social media accounts run by Trump family members, to name a few.