More sad news for Axie Infinity — Discord bot compromised in the latest attack

In recent months, Axie Infinity (AXS), a prominent play-to-earn blockchain game, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Axie Infinity used Twitter to inform its users about a fresh attempt to hack its Mee6 discord bot.

1/ There was a compromise of the Mee6 bot which was installed on the main Axie server. The attackers used that bot to add permissions to a fake Jiho account, which then posted a fake announcement about a mint.
— Axie Infinity?? (@AxieInfinity) May 18, 2022

Numerous crypto projects use MEE6, a popular Discord bot used primarily for automating roles and messages. The attackers exploited the compromised bot to grant rights to a fake Jiho account and then released a bogus message reporting a mint on Axie Infinity’s server.

Are you looking for fast-news, hot-tips and market analysis?

Sign-up for the Invezz newsletter, today.

The MEE6 bot was disabled, and the bogus communications were erased shortly afterwards. According to the gaming platform, there will never be a surprising mint, and such events are often announced on Twitter, Facebook, Discord, and Substack. However, the team also expressed concern that some users might still see the removed messages until they reload their Discord application.

Consequently, the Axie team advised users to remain vigilant if they see such suspicious statements. In addition, the team informed users that they were doing all in their power to avoid such incidents in the future.

Meanwhile, MEE6 issued an apology, explaining that no technological compromise had occurred. However, the whole turmoil was caused by an employee account being compromised.

Some servers have reported MEE6 being used to post unwanted messages. There is no technical breach in our systems. This was due to one of our employee’s account getting compromised.
✅ The issue is now fixed and we’ve taken all the steps to make sure it never happens again.
— MEE6 (@mee6bot) May 18, 2022

The security flaw in the Discord bot transpired a little more than a month after one of the greatest attacks on Axie Infinity’s Ronin bridge, which led to the compromise of crypto assets valued at over $600 million.

The community’s conviction in the game, originally heralded as a revolution in the blockchain gaming industry, has been weakened due to the current surge of fresh security vulnerabilities.

The Ronin bridge massacre

Ronin Network, a crucial bridge chain that runs Axie Infinity, was compromised in March, resulting in a loss of over $600 million worth of assets, including Ethereum (ETH) and USD Coin (USDC).

Since the incident, the stolen assets have made their way to prominent cryptocurrency exchanges, including FTX, Huobi, and Crypto.com, which pledged to track the funds. Binance briefly halted withdrawals and deposits on the Ronin Network in the aftermath.

The developer behind Axie Infinity, Sky Mavis, stated that it would pay online users who lost money following the assault on Ronin’s infrastructure.

The Ambiguous future of blockchain gaming

As the gaming industry shifts its attention to in-game assets, blockchain can address various associated issues, including creating scarcity and encouraging further purchases by transferring these items across games.

However, all wonderful things come at a price. And in this case, the cost is the privacy and security of user data — from NFT assets to crypto keys and all other sensitive information.

Meanwhile, the rapidly rising demand is only one indication that blockchain gaming has untapped potential. However, considering the inherent drawbacks of cyber-attacks and data breaches, everyone is speculating what the future holds for blockchain gaming?

Invest in crypto, stocks, ETFs & more in minutes with our preferred broker,

eToro