Casper Network resumes operations after security breach

The Casper Network is fully operational again after a temporary shutdown due to a security breach. On July 31 at 15:18 UTC, 64 validators voted unanimously to resume validation processes, representing 85% of the CSPR tokens on the network.

Network activity interruption posed technical challenge

According to a post on social platform X, the network has been successfully restored. The security issue was resolved through a collaborative, decentralized effort by validators, engineers, and other stakeholders.

An update from the Casper team noted that the network disruption posed a technical challenge, especially since it occurred in the middle of an active epoch rather than at the end of one. Two blocks containing four transactions had to be discarded to resolve the situation, ignoring those transactions and their effects on the blockchain.

Upgrade had to be started manually

The recovery process included the deployment of a new Casper node binary and default configuration files. After the pause, validators had to manually initiate the upgrade and install the new version, which required real-time synchronization. Additionally, a tool was developed to scan the entire blockchain from its inception to the present, with the goal of ensuring that there were no other instances of abuse.

With the approval of the validators, the nodes were rebooted, removing the two problematic blocks and making the necessary global status changes. Once 66.7% or more of the consensus stake had reached this point, the network was rebooted and block creation could resume.

Not the only one dealing with security breach

In addition to the recovery of the Casper network, WazirX, a prominent Indian cryptocurrency exchange that also suffered a security breach in which approximately $230 million was stolen, has announced a strategy to recover users’ funds. Unlike WazirX, which found no evidence of compromised signer machines during the July 18 hack in its preliminary investigation, the Casper team has made significant progress in identifying the source of their breach.

Other notable victims of crypto hacks in July include algorithmic protocol Compound Finance ($24 million), bridge protocol Li.Fi ($10 million), decentralized AI protocol Bittensor, and liquidity provider Rho Markets ($8 million each).