The recent takeover of Tornado Cash DAO continues to be a hot topic in the crypto community, especially now that the attacker has started moving their illicitly gained tokens. The unidentified perpetrator managed to move 100 ether (ETH) and 38,000 torn (TORN) tokens in two transactions through the Tornado Cash protocol on Wednesday night, according to blockchain data.
DAO, short for decentralized autonomous organization, enables token holders to lock up their holdings as votes for proposing changes to a project. These changes can range from deploying treasury funds to benefitting the project, to expanding on other networks. In this case, the attacker exploited the DAO system and continues to have access to potentially all of Tornado Cash’s treasury funds.
This incident has raised concerns about the vulnerabilities of DAOs and the potential damage that can occur with improper governance. Despite the negative implications, however, the attack does not impact the actual Tornado Cash protocol, which allows users to pass funds through the service to mask or obscure the movements of funds and crypto-addresses.
It’s still essential to note that the core of Tornado Cash’s business – the protocol itself – was not compromised. The attacker did not exploit any smart contracts or technology related to Tornado Cash’s protocol, suggesting that the integrity of the privacy-focused crypto mixer remains intact.
Interestingly enough, the attacker also proposed a solution to revert all malicious changes before the takeover earlier this week, causing torn prices to increase by 10% at the time. The proposal is set to pass when voting closes on May 26, indicating that the malicious code will be removed and the governance of Tornado Cash’s DAO will return to the token holders.
This situation serves as an essential reminder for the crypto community to remain vigilant when it comes to protocol security and ensuring that systems like DAOs are not susceptible to malicious attacks. Additionally, it highlights the need for proper governance and continuous improvement to minimize future risks to projects like Tornado Cash, whose core technology has fortunately remained unaffected.
While the incident has shed light on the potential weaknesses in DAOs, it is crucial for the community to reflect on this episode not only to prevent future occurrences but also to strengthen the faith in blockchain technologies. It is through collaborative efforts and resilience that the crypto community can emerge stronger and continue to innovate, adapt, and thrive in the ever-evolving world of digital currencies.
Source: Coindesk
