Author: HotWater

In the context of the rapid rise of decentralized finance (DeFi), projects like Gnosis, Safe, and Cow, which are considered "OG-level" in the Ethereum ecosystem, have long enjoyed a stellar reputation. They manage vast asset treasuries, often holding hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in Bitcoin and Ethereum reserves, making them both a focal point of the industry and potential targets for hackers. Recently, there have been Twitter reports suggesting that Gnosis/Safe may be facing a potential "storm" with exchanges or service providers like Bybit, hinting at security risks related to North Korean hacker organizations, which has garnered widespread attention in the community.

I. The History and Status of Safe (Gnosis Safe)

Safe (formerly Gnosis Safe) is a highly representative multi-signature (multi-sig) asset management tool in the development of the Gnosis ecosystem. The Gnosis project initially focused on prediction markets and gradually extended to secure custody, asset management, and other services. The core idea of Safe is that for organizations or individuals with substantial digital assets, relying solely on a single private key is not secure; it is essential to depend on multi-signature or smart contract preset rules to better prevent internal fraud or external attacks.

For this reason, Safe is widely used in the Ethereum and even cross-chain ecosystems: many DAOs, foundations, and large NFT projects regard it as a "vault"-like underlying custody solution. It is not only an "established" tool but has also integrated into various decentralized application scenarios and spawned multiple extended functions (such as social recovery, hardware wallet support, etc.). This core position makes Safe a "treasury" in the eyes of hackers.

II. Potential Infiltration by North Korean Hacker Organizations

North Korean hacker organizations (most notably the "Lazarus" group) have been repeatedly reported in connection with cross-border money laundering, banking system attacks, and exchange thefts in recent years. They often employ sophisticated methods and operate covertly, adept at infiltrating target systems through social engineering, phishing emails, and exploiting contract vulnerabilities. For them, the openness of the DeFi world and cross-chain liquidity becomes an advantage: once a breakthrough is found, funds can be quickly transferred across multiple chains and mixed, making tracking significantly more difficult.

In major financial centers in Asia, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo, rumors have emerged that "North Korean agents disguise themselves as ordinary job seekers or investment consultants, attempting to establish contact with project executives." Once these "undercover agents" gain the trust of the core team or key permissions, they could directly manipulate the multi-signature process of smart contracts or steal private key information, leading to severe asset losses.

III. Multiple Security Risks in Web3

1. Technical Aspects

Decentralized applications are emerging one after another, but security audits and protective systems often cannot keep pace with the speed of innovation. While multi-signature is an important means of security reinforcement, it may also have vulnerabilities in contracts, errors in the signing process, or improper internal permission management. If a foundational multi-signature tool like Safe is compromised, almost all DAOs and projects relying on it for asset management will face severe setbacks.

2. Partner Aspects

The DeFi ecosystem is interwoven: a DAO may collaborate with multiple exchanges, custody services, and cross-chain protocols, and also share liquidity or conduct token swaps with other projects. This means that any oversight in security review by any party could open a gap for hackers. For example, some "partners" disguised as third-party service providers may actually be manipulated by North Korean hackers; once they gain internal system access, it could lead to a chain reaction.

3. Social Engineering and Human Weaknesses

Like traditional financial crimes, hacker organizations still most commonly use "social engineering"—whether through phishing emails or "honey traps," as long as they can gain the trust or system access of key team members, they can instantly render all technical barriers ineffective. In a globalized, remote-collaborative Web3 environment, people are more likely to overlook the necessity of identity verification and background checks.

IV. If an Attack Occurs, What Are the Impacts?

• Financial Losses: The treasury managed within Safe is extremely large; if a significant attack occurs, tens of millions of dollars or more in assets could be stolen.
• Market Confidence: If a fatal vulnerability appears in the multi-signature system, user confidence in the security of DeFi will undoubtedly be severely undermined, potentially triggering panic redemptions or sell-offs, causing price fluctuations and market turmoil.
• Regulatory Intervention: Major hacking incidents often attract the attention of regulatory agencies in various countries, accelerating the compliance and control processes for the crypto industry. Sanctions against North Korean-related forces will also escalate, further affecting the cross-border operations of more exchanges and projects.
• Industry Ecosystem: If a leading project or infrastructure (like Safe) falls, related parties will be forced to seek alternative solutions or take emergency measures, and the compatibility and collaboration between DeFi protocols may also be impacted.

V. Response and Prevention: Multi-Party Collaboration

1. Technical Upgrades

• Strengthen smart contract audits, covering multiple dimensions such as multi-signature contracts, cross-chain bridges, and application layer protocols.
• Explore new technologies like zero-knowledge proofs and hardware signatures to add more firewalls to the multi-signature process.

1. Team and Community Management

• Conduct strict KYC and background checks on partners, outsourcing teams, and consultants to eliminate potential "spies" or "agents."
• Implement the principle of least privilege within the team to avoid any individual or single department holding excessive permissions.

1. Continuous Monitoring and Emergency Plans

• Deploy real-time monitoring systems; once abnormal transfers or large authorizations are detected, immediately trigger risk control mechanisms or community voting.
• Establish emergency multi-signature withdrawal or freezing functions to prevent assets from being transferred entirely within seconds.

1. Collaboration with Cross-Chain and Exchanges

• Exchanges, cross-chain bridges, and custody institutions should establish rapid response mechanisms to promptly freeze or flag suspicious addresses, preventing hackers from transferring assets and escaping unscathed.
• The industry could form alliances to share information and manage blacklists regarding malicious contract addresses and potential threat entities.

VI. Conclusion

Projects like Gnosis, Safe, and Cow have become focal points in the industry not only due to their technical strength and vast assets but also because they represent the core values of decentralization, autonomy, and innovation in the Web3 era. The potential infiltration by North Korean hacker organizations warns us that behind openness and freedom, a strong security defense must still be established. Whether in technology, governance, or compliance, there should be more rigorous deployments and collaborations.

This game of "DeFi versus sovereign state hackers" has only just begun. To truly safeguard the future of Web3, projects like Safe not only need to maintain technological leadership and security audits but also must collaborate closely with the community, exchanges, and regulatory agencies to establish an effective global security mechanism. Only in this way can decentralized finance truly progress steadily and allow all participants to confidently explore and expand in this emerging "digital continent."

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。