Bitcoin is supposed to be safe and secure, but it seems that a particular system is only as strong as its weakest link. Hackers have managed to clean out a Bitcoin wallet that is owned by Silk Road 2, where the amount which was siphoned off happen to be a whopping $2.7 million. Ouch! Just how did the hackers manage that feat? Well, they made use of a similar transaction malleability bug in Bitcoin’s protocol, which is the same bug that resulted in Bitcoin exchanges such as Mt. Gox and BitStamp stopping any kind of withdrawals from happening. Silk Road 2 happens to be an underground Internet black market which was introduced in October last year, and this incorporation happened after the FBI shut down its predecessor, which was the original Silk Road.
The hackers are now 4474.27 Bitcoins richer, and considering the transaction malleability happens to be a Bitcoin issue, the gamut of Silk Road 2’s anti-hacking measures proved useless in defending against the hack. To make matters worse, the only kind of currency accepted on Silk Road 2 is, yup, you’ve guessed it – Bitcoin. This hacking incident has sent the cost of Bitcoin spiraling down, where it is worth approximately $600 for each Bitcoin now. There is never a 100% fool proof plan in a system now, is there?