[NEWS] FriendTech announces new features as security measures against SIM swap attacks

Friend.Tech, a decentralized social networking site that was hacked in a SIM swap attack, announced a new feature on the 4th that allows users to add or remove login methods to access their personal accounts.

According to Friend.Tech, it was discovered that a single hacker had illegally obtained Ethereum (ETH) worth about $385,000 (about 57 million yen) in 24 hours from the 4th to the 5th. The hacker is said to have stolen 234 ETH from four Friend.Tech users.

The method is SIM swap fraud. The hacker first illegally accesses the victim's phone number and obtains authentication information. After that, they break into accounts such as social media and wallets that manage crypto assets (virtual currencies).

One of the victims said that the Apple Store replaced his SIM and switched his device to an iPhone SE, and appealed on X (formerly Twitter) saying, "Don't buy my key. My wallet is at risk."

Friend.Tech has strengthened its security in response to complaints from users about SIM swap attacks. With the updated settings, you can access the account settings screen by tapping on the user wallet from the app.

However, there is no passcode function for two-step authentication, so users are complaining that they may be locked out of their accounts.

Several cryptocurrency security companies have asked FriendTech to quickly implement robust account security measures, including two-step authentication, but this has not yet been addressed.

FriendTech explained that Privy, a provider for enabling privacy features, is working on implementing an upgrade, but it has also been reported that there is an issue where password confirmation is not required, and if the password is not entered correctly, neither Privy nor FriendTech can reset it.

There are also concerns that despite removing the phone number and replacing it with a different authentication method, sessions on other devices are not logged out, which may still allow hackers to log in.

To date, FriendTech has attracted global attention as a decentralized social networking site. FriendTech's revenue has reached a total of 16,663 ETH, and the amount of ETH currently locked has reached more than 30,000 ETH.

Reference:Announcement
Image: Shutterstock