blockchainsecurity

North Korea is once again coming to the center of attention in the crypto world in 2025 — this time not due to regulations or technology, but because of the largest wave of crypto crime in history. According to security analysts, groups linked to North Korea have stolen cryptocurrencies worth over 2 billion dollars this year.
This makes this country the largest state actor in the field of crypto hacks in the world.
🕵️‍♂️ Who is behind the attacks?
Most of the attacks are carried out by well-known hacking groups such as the Lazarus Group, which have long been associated with the regime in Pyongyang. These groups operate in a highly organized manner, with state support and a clear goal: to acquire capital outside the traditional financial system.

Many call it the "Crypto-Apocalypse". The idea that a super-powerful quantum computer could decipher your private key and empty your wallet in seconds has shifted from being a science fiction theory to a priority for developers in 2025.
💻 The problem: The fragility of current cryptography
Today, the security of Bitcoin and Ethereum is based on the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA). It is practically impossible to hack for a traditional computer (it would take thousands of years). However, a quantum computer uses Shor's Algorithm, which could find your private key from your public key in a matter of minutes.

At a time when blockchain networks are increasingly being tested under real-world pressure, Solana is facing one of its toughest challenges yet — and quietly passing the test. The network has been operating under a sustained, large-scale DDoS attack, reportedly peaking near 6 terabits per second (Tbps), a level that places it among the largest attacks ever recorded against any distributed system.

Despite the scale, most users wouldn’t even know an attack is happening.

---

Understanding the Scale of the Attack

The ongoing attack was highlighted by Pipe Network, which reported that Solana has been hit by billions of packets per second. Under normal circumstances, traffic of this magnitude would be expected to cause:

Rising latency

Missed slots

Delayed or failed transaction confirmations

However, Solana’s live telemetry tells a very different story.

---

Key Metrics Tell the Real Story

Even at peak attack intensity, Solana’s core performance metrics have remained stable:

Median transaction confirmation: ~450 milliseconds

p90 confirmation time: under 700 milliseconds

Slot latency: holding steady at 0–1 slots

In practical terms, traders and everyday users are still experiencing sub-second confirmations, with no widespread outages or noticeable degradation.

Solana Labs co-founder and COO Raj Gokal responded to the situation by pointing out how little impact the attack has had on actual usage, emphasizing that performance has remained intact despite the pressure.

---

Validator Count and Network Resilience Debate

The attack has reignited a broader industry discussion around validator counts and network resilience. This debate intensified after a separate DDoS incident on the Sui network, which reportedly caused transaction delays and block production issues.

Some voices argued that lower validator counts make networks more fragile. However, others pushed back against the idea that simply increasing the number of validators is a guaranteed solution.

---

Quality vs Quantity in Validators

Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius, offered a more nuanced view. While acknowledging that validator diversity matters, he argued that:

A smaller group of highly professional, well-resourced validators

Can sometimes provide stronger resistance than

Thousands of poorly configured or underpowered nodes

He also confirmed publicly that Solana has been under a colossal DDoS attack for more than a week, calling the lack of visible user impact a strong testament to Solana’s engineering.

---

Why Validator Numbers Still Matter

Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko added an important technical clarification. Validator count becomes especially relevant during leader transitions:

If one leader completes a block while the next leader is under attack

A higher validator count forces attackers to sustain pressure across more of the network

This dramatically increases the cost and complexity of disrupting block production, making attacks far less efficient.

---

Independent Confirmation From Network Observers

Independent data aggregator SolanaFloor summarized the situation clearly:

Solana has been under a sustained DDoS attack for roughly a week

Traffic peaked near 6 Tbps, ranking among the largest attacks ever observed

Network data continues to show:

Sub-second confirmations

Stable slot latency

By comparison, similar attacks on other networks have resulted in mass delays and degraded performance, highlighting the difference in resilience.

---

Blockchains Are Now Tier-1 DDoS Targets

According to David Rhodus, founder of Permissionless Labs and a contributor to Pipe Network, this event marks a shift in how blockchains should be viewed:

Public blockchains are no longer niche experiments

They are now Tier-1 DDoS targets, similar to major internet infrastructure

At 6 Tbps, the attack is clearly industrial-scale, not the work of casual attackers. This reflects the growing importance and economic weight of blockchain networks.

---

Practical Lessons for Validators

For validators, the takeaway is straightforward:

Avoid reliance on a single hosting provider

Use multi-region deployments

Maintain backups across multiple infrastructure providers

Even when the network itself remains operational, individual validator resilience depends heavily on infrastructure diversity.

---

Quiet Reliability Is the Real Win

Solana’s biggest claim from this episode is not about price action or headlines — it’s about reliability under extreme conditions. The network continued to function normally, without dramatic outages or user-visible failures, even while under sustained attack.

This kind of quiet resilience may not stand out on a chart, but it is critical for real-world usability, especially for trading, DeFi, and payment applications that depend on consistent performance.

At the time of writing, SOL was trading around $126, but the more important signal lies elsewhere: Solana demonstrated that it can operate smoothly even when pushed to the limits.

#solana $SOL #BlockchainSecurity
#CryptoInfrastructure
#Web3
#BinanceSquare