TheteambehindtheinfamouscryptowalletdrainingprojectInfernohastransferredcontrolofitskittorivaldrainingasaservice(DaaS)provider,AngelDrainerteam.InanannouncementsharedonXbyScamSniffer,InfernoDrainersaiditwastimetoquit.
AccordingtotheInfernodevelopers,quittingwasnoteasy.Still,ithasidentifiedtheAngelDrainerteamascapableofmanagingtheplatformandistrustednottoscamorexploitanotherdrainer.
Itsaid:
“WefindtheAngelDrainerteamcompetentenoughtomaintainthedrainer(whilekeepingourcodebaseandfeaturessuchas200+protocols,autoclaims,bypassesaswellasmanybigpendingupdates,newpanelwithlogshandlingandmanyotherthings)astheyhaveshowntheycouldbetrusted.”
Meanwhile,theInfernoteamsaidthetransferwouldnotaffecttheplatform’soperations.Customerscanstillaccessitsdrainingservicesusingthesamelogindetails.Withthetakeover,itappearsthattheInfernoandAngeltoolkitswillbecomeasingleproduct.
TheannouncementmarksthesecondtimetheInfernoteamwillquititsDaaSoperations.ItinitiallydidsoinNovember2023afterhelpingscammersstealover$80million,butlaterreturnedin2024tosayithasbeenoperatingstealthilyforsixmonths.
InfernoDrainerAssetTransfers(Source:ScamSniffer)
However,theteamappearstobequittingforgoodnow,asithasalreadytransferredthe2,845ETH($7.5million)instolenfundsfromitsfeeaddresstootheraddresses.Thefeeaddressforthedrainingplatformhasalsobeenchangedon-chain,suggestingthatsomeoneelsehastakencontroloftheplatform.
AngelDrainerissettobecomepowerful
Withwhatseemslikeamergerbetweenthetwoplatformsthathelpscammersandbadactorsdraincryptowallets,AngelDrainerissettoinheritamassiveinfrastructure.Ifaddedtoitsexistingtoolkit,theplatformcouldbecomeoneofthebiggestDaaSprovidersandamajorthreattocryptousers.
AngelDraineriscurrentlyoneoftheforemostDaaS,withmorethan$25millionincryptoscamsconnectedtoit.However,itbrieflyshutdowninJulyaftersecurityfirmMatchSystemsclaimedthatithadmadesignificantprogressindeanonymizingthetool’sdevelopers.
ItreturnedinAugustand,accordingtosecurityexpertsatBlockaid,hasbecomemoreadvanced.TheBlockaidteamobservedthatithasanimprovedversionknownasAngelX.Thenewsystemreportedlycandeploymaliciousdecentralizedapplications(dApps)thatstealusers’assets,withmorethan300dAppslaunchedbyearlySeptember.
PerhapsamoresignificantconcernisthatAngelDrainer’snewsystemsupportsphishingappsthattargetusersonemerginglayer-1blockchainnetworkssuchasTronandTheOpenNetwork(TON).Blockaidnotedthatthesenetworks,whichareintheirearlystages,havelimitedsecuritytoolsandsupport,makingthemafertilegroundforscammers.
Drainer-as-a-servicecontinuestogrow
Meanwhile,theAngelandInfernoDrainersmergerhighlightshowDaaSplatformshavebecomeabusinessmodelforbadactorsinthecryptospace.Theseplatforms,whichprovidecryptodrainersandothersoftwaretoolsthatsupportscammersandothercybercriminalsforapercentageofstolenfunds,havecontinuedtogrowinprominenceinrecentyears.
However,theyhavealsofacedsomechallengesasblockchainsecuritytoolscontinuetobecomemoreadvanced.WhilemostoftheseplatformsprovidemaliciouslinksanddApps,therearenowtoolstodetectandblockthoselinksandapps.Thishasalreadyledtosomedrainers,suchasPinkDrainerandVioletDrainer,shuttingdown.
Nevertheless,mergerssuchasthissuggestbadactorsmightnowbeteamingupalsotoimprovetheirabilitiesandstandabetterchance.
cryptopolitan.com