Mark Cuban 870K USD Hot Wallet Hack -Could Have Been Prevented?

Mark Cuban is an American entrepreneur, investor, and owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA.
As well as an affluent cryptocurrency investor.
But, even someone with such a curriculum was not able to prevent falling for a cryptocurrency hot wallet hack, and recently he lost 870K USD.
This is another example of a public figure who becomes a target of hackers and scammers because they know he is an affluent crypto user and much of his personal information is publicly available for the hackers to find and to use.
Mr.Cuban is most probably also a very busy person and maybe does not have enough time to take Crypto Safety and Digital Security as seriously as he should. This markets it easier for hackers and scammers.

What Did It Happen?

As briefly mentioned above, 870K USD across ten cryptocurrencies were taken from Mr.Cuban's Metamask hot wallet by some unidentified individuals or individuals.
The hack was originally identified and made public by @WazzCryto and reported on his Twitter account.
As reported by Wazz, a dormant crypto wallet (Mark Cuban 2) belonging to Mark Cuban started to display strange behavior.
Many assets were being transferred within a very short span, within a matter of a few minutes, which triggered Wazz's suspicions.
While it is not fully clear how the hot wallet hack happened, some people speculate that Mr.Cuban's Metamask crypto wallet private key had been compromised.
And not by a malicious transaction approval but probably due to the mobile device where the wallet was installed to be compromised.
This is, because the mobile device could have been infected by some malware or spyware that the hackers used to get hold of the Metamask wallet's private key.
 

Could the Hot Wallet Hack Have Been Prevented?

Most probably NO. The hot wallet hack could not have been prevented.
Mr.Cuban is an affluent person who has a cryptocurrency wallet that himself named Mark Cuban 2.
And, unfortunately for him, the name of the wallet is available in the Blockchain for anyone with some investigation skills to find out and track.
Most probably the hackers identified the wallet as a priority target because it had a considerable amount of cryptocurrency and they could link the wallet to a physical person.
From that moment, Mr. Cuban was already on the path to sooner or later get hacked.

What to learn from this, do not name your crypto wallet with any personal information that anyone can track back to you.

But the crypto assets loss could have been avoided or minimized if the assets would have been stored in a cold wallet:

• If the assets had been stored in a cold wallet, the hackers would have not bothered to go through all the processes and risks of hacking the hot wallet. For what they should spend so much effort for little to no benefit...
• If the assets had been stored in a cold wallet, most probably the hackers could not have managed to hack it. Cold wallets have many fewer security flaws than hot wallets and those flaws are mostly human-related and not that easy to exploit.

Can You Shield Yourself From Hot Wallet Hacks?

Yes, you can add additional layers of security to prevent a hot wallet hack.
These are some of those layers that you could and should apply:

• Never download any crypto wallet app or wallet extension unless you are 300% sure that it is a legitimate extension. You don't want malware or spyware installed on your electronic devices.
• If you are not 300% sure about an app or extension and you need advice, do NOT ask anyone online for advice, or you will be scammed: Research, learn, and be safe.
• Audit your crypto wallets regularly and revoke unnecessary approvals. Have a look at the video below where we explain how to use revoke. cash to identify and eliminate dangerous approvals.
• Protect your seed phrase and private keys. Make it your priority to fully learn what are private keys and seed phrases and the best practices to keep them safe
• Keep learning and applying good digital and crypto safety and security practices. The more you know, the better you will be prepared to avoid hacks and scams

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As Mr. Cuban, you may be a very busy person with little time for non-priority tasks.
But you may want to start dedicating some more effort to protect your on-line identity and wealth.
Because, in the long run, it will be very worth it.
Before we conclude this article, please think twice before commenting on Mr. Cuban's situation.
Many people fall victim to hacks and scams, not for negligence or lack of knowledge, but for lack of awareness.
As for Mr.Cuban's hot wallet hack, it is just a speculation from our side but most probably the hack was due to a very busy lifestyle that does not give high enough priority to Crypto Safety and Digital Security.
At Crypto Safety First we hope that learning from real stories brings awareness that hacks and scams do not happen to other people, or in movies. The more aware we are, the safer we will be.
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Congratulations on completing this 5-minute digital safety power-up.
We hope this short article has helped increase your digital safety knowledge and awareness, and the 5 minutes read was worth the time.
If you have additional time, consider digging deeper and expanding your knowledge about private keys and seed phrases
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Article originally published at: https://www.publish0x.com/@Crypto-Safety-First