Crypto Calamity: A Web3 Founder’s $20K Slip-Up with North Korea’s BeaverTail 🦫💸

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Crypto Calamity: A Web3 Founder’s $20K Slip-Up with North Korea’s BeaverTail 🦫💸


In a turn of events that would make even the most stoic of coders raise an eyebrow, Akshit Ostwal, co-founder of Epoch Protocol, found himself out $20,000 thanks to a digital con artist with a penchant for extremely cold-blooded mischief.

The Web3 world collectively gasped this week when Ostwal, a chivalrous chap who once believed reviewing code for a friend was a harmless act of camaraderie, unwittingly became the star of a cyber-thriller penned by Pyongyang’s finest. 🌐✨

One might say the Lazarus Group-North Korea’s answer to a tech startup with a dark side-has pivoted from heists to haute couture social engineering. Why rob banks when you can charm developers into handing you the keys to their crypto vaults? 👩‍💻🎩

The Grand Unveiling of the Scam (Spoiler: It Wasn’t Tea) 🕵️‍♂️

Last December, Ostwal received a request so mundane it could’ve been plucked from a Dilbert comic: a pal needed help reviewing a code repo for a job interview. How quaint. Little did he know, this “recruiter” was about as legitimate as a three-dollar bill. 🎩💸

“Let’s run this code,” he allegedly thought, a decision akin to inviting a fox into a henhouse while wearing a chicken costume. 🦊🐔 The script, it turned out, was a one-way ticket to Malware Mayhem, courtesy of the “Contagious Interview” campaign. 🚀

– (AK) Akshit | Epoch Protocol 🦇🔊🛡️ (@OstwalAk)

Next thing he knew, his machine was hosting a digital tea party for two unwelcome guests: BeaverTail, a JavaScript-based rascal, and its accomplice, InvisibleFerret. Together, they’re the Bonnie and Clyde of blockchain banditry. 🦫🦝

Anatomy of a Digital Disgrace 🦠

Ostwal’s ordeal unfolded like a slapstick comedy:

  1. The malware executed itself with all the subtlety of a marching band in a library. 📜🎺
  2. It phoned home with his environment variables-database URLs, private keys, the whole je ne sais quoi. 📡🗝️
  3. Attackers replied with a root-access JavaScript gift basket. Because nothing says “thanks” like a backdoor to your soul. 🎁💻

And just like that, $20K vanished. Poof. Ostwal’s wallet was emptier than a politician’s promises post-election. 🗑️

Why the Hackers Played the Long Game 🕰️

These North Korean maestros didn’t bolt with the loot like a schoolboy swiping jam tarts. Oh no-they lingered. For a month! They unstaked his DeFi portfolio with the patience of a gardener pruning bonsai. 🌱

Then, in one elegant sweep, they pirouetted off with his EVM and Solana funds, hopping chains like a caffeinated bunny on Red Bull. Rubic Exchange? Near-Intents? Merely party tricks for these blockchain ballerinas. 🎭

Related Reading: $3.4 Billion Stolen: North Korea Drives Record $2 Billion Crypto Theft Year 🤑

North Korea’s Cybercrime Empire: Bigger Than Your Grandma’s Knitting Circle 🧶

Ostwal’s tale is but a blip in Pyongyang’s $2.02 billion crypto heist spree last year. They’re out there crafting malicious NPM packages and using AI to sound “human” in interviews. The job market’s a minefield, and every LinkedIn DM could be a North Korean agent sipping Soju. 🇳ORTHKOREA 🕵️‍♀️

In conclusion: Always trust a man in a trench coat offering code reviews. Said no one ever. 🎩🦫


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2026-01-09 17:51