Kaito AI and Its Founder Yu Hu Targeted in Social Media Hack

Kaito AI, an artificial intelligence-driven research platform for crypto and blockchain data, and its founder Yu Hu have been targeted in a social media hack.

Kaito AI, an artificial intelligence-driven research platform for crypto and blockchain data, and its founder Yu Hu have been targeted by an attacker who gained control of the company's social media account.

The hacker, who took over the Kaito AI's Twitter handle, claimed that the crypto startup's wallets had been compromised and warned users that their funds were at risk.

However, in a post on X, the AI company confirmed that both the company and its founder had been hacked and that its wallets remained secure and had not been compromised.

This account and @Punk9277 were just compromised.The KAITO wallets were NOT and are NOT compromised.We now have regained access to the twitter accounts.Please bare with us as we investigate how this happened. We had high standard security measures in place to prevent it -…

"We now have regained access to the twitter accounts. Please bare with us as we investigate how this happened. We had high standard security measures in size to prevent it — so it seems to be similar or the same to other recent Twitter account hacks," Kaito AI wrote.

Hackers gained control of the account and shared misleading posts that caused panic among investors. The fraudulent posts have since been removed.

Blockchain investigator DeFi Warhol reported that the attackers allegedly placed a short position on KAITO tokens before spreading false messages. The strategy aimed to spark a sell-off, driving the token's price down and enabling them to profit from the manipulated decline.

Hackers are getting smarter. They didn't tweet a stupid CA and closed the replies like the majority do.Instead, they shorted before tweeting a seemingly legit tweet concerning the $KAITO supply. Perhaps also longed when they lost access. https://t.co/qRYmCQNWQK pic.twitter.com/R7kaMr09fy

"Hackers are getting smarter. They didn’t tweet a stupid CA and closed the replies like the majority do. Instead, they shorted before tweeting a seemingly legit tweet concerning the $KAITO supply," DeFi Warhol wrote.

Additionally, Hu highlighted in an X post that Kaito's wallets and token supply had not been compromised. "My X account and the Kaito one were both compromised — with the hacker then posting false tweets. Once I was made aware, I checked the accounts and saw I was still logged into both so deleted the tweets, and changed the password," Hu said.

nothing related to KAITO was compromised, no wallets or supplymy X account and the Kaito one were both compromised — with the hacker then posting false tweets.once I was made aware, I checked the accounts and saw I was still logged into both so deleted the tweets, and…

Hu added that both his account and Kaito AI's one had a very high-level of security, which included hardware-based two-factor authentication. He noted that the breach appeared similar to the recent hack targeting Solana-based liquidity aggregator Jupiter.

"We have a lead from @DefiSquared – looks like the same hacker (who is on the run from the Chinese police) associated with the recent hack on the @tier10k account is related to ours. Overall profited close to $1mn (from opening trades & got baalance to $300k today). Would appreciate it if anyone has more info. on the hacker to share. Thanks! 🙏. "

update – we have a lead from @DefiSquared – looks like the same hacker (who is on the run from the Chinese police) associated with the recent hack on the @tier10k account is related to ours. overall profited close to $1mn (from opening trades & got baalance to $300k today). would appreciate it if anyone has more info. on the hacker to share. Thanks! 🙏.

We are aware that a malicious actor has gained access to Kaito's Twitter account and is spreading misinformation.

Kaito's wallets have NOT been compromised.

We are working to regain access to the account and will provide an update as soon as possible. In the meantime, please be aware of any scams.

— Kaito (@Kaito_HQ) August 25, 2023

Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting social media accounts to execute cryptocurrency scams, exploiting the trust and reach of verified profiles. High-profile figures, crypto projects, and industry leaders have all fallen victim to these attacks, which typically involve phishing schemes, SIM-swapping, or compromised credentials.

These scams can take various forms, from fake charity donations and email table scams to rugpulls and phishing attempts. Hackers often divert followers to fraudulent accounts or use the compromised profile to share false financial claims, investment advice, or personal messages with the intent to deceive the victims' inner circles.

Recent incidents have shown a pattern in which hackers time their attacks to coincide with market activity,