Zoom/Telegram Deepfake Attack Vector Rises: Crypto Founders Targeted
Security
Sergio Goschenko
Zoom/Telegram Deepfake Attack Vector Rises: Crypto Founders Targeted
Sandeep Nailwal, founder of Polygon, warned about a recent incident involving a hack of one of his contacts that utilized social engineering and deepfakes on Zoom to compromise other Telegram contacts. The attackers sought to install a component that would allow them to gain access to the victims’ computers.
Zoom/Telegram Deepfake Attack Vector Rises: Crypto Founders Targeted
Zoom/Telegram Hacks: Polygon Founder Describes Modus Operandi
Founders in the cryptocurrency industry and venture capitalists are now targets for hackers who are refining their methods of gaining access to computers through social engineering and deepfakes. Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal warned about an incident involving the head of Polygon Ventures, describing the modus operandi these attackers are employing.
In an unclear manner, hackers took control of the Telegram account of the Polygon Ventures head and proceeded to contact other founders using his identity to set up Telegram calls.
The Zoom calls featured deepfakes of Nailwal and a woman portrayed as another member of the Polygon team.
However, the calls experienced sound problems, and the attackers informed the attendees that there were issues with their software, suggesting they install an update to fix the problem. This update contained malware that allows the hackers to take control of the information on the founders’ computers.
Kaavya Prasad, co-founder at Rabble and a founder who was almost a victim of this scheme, explained her experience. She stated:
The avatars moved. Looked real. I wish I had taken a screenshot of the call. But I knew this wasn’t real. Sandeep doesn’t just drop into random Zooms like this.
Nailwal qualified these attacks as “horrifying,” noting that he was contacted several times to confirm if he was in a Zoom meeting and if he was asking to install an update script. “These attacks keep getting more and more sophisticated, so best approach is to keep a separate laptop for signing via your wallets only from that laptop and never do anything else on that wallet,” he concluded.
In April, Kenny Li, co-founder of Manta Network, alerted about a similar case, suspecting that Lazarus, the North Korean hacking conglomerate, was behind it.
Read more: Zoom Calls? Beware! Lazarus Is Targeting Crypto Founders
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