On February 5, blockchain security firm CertiK reported that the hacker address behind the Aperture Finance exploit transferred approximately 590.7 ETH (~$1.25M) into the mixing protocol Tornado Cash.
The funds originated from the January 25 exploit incident. Once assets enter anonymous channels, tracking complexity increases significantly, raising continued community concern over future fund movements and potential laundering attempts.
Attack Method: Malicious Calls Executed by Bypassing Verification
Security analysis indicates the attacker bypassed project verification mechanisms and sent malicious call data to a proxy module. This allowed the attacker to gain protocol control privileges and transfer assets.
The incident once again exposed potential weaknesses in smart contract permission controls and validation workflow design across certain DeFi protocols.
Mixer Usage Increases Compliance and Regulatory Pressure
Transfers into protocols such as Tornado Cash are commonly viewed as attempts to obfuscate fund origins.
Such behavior not only increases law enforcement tracing difficulty, but also raises compliance expectations for exchanges and regulated institutions, particularly in risk detection, transaction review, and fund screening processes.
Role of On-Chain Monitoring in Security Defense
As attackers rapidly move funds and utilize mixers, continuous on-chain monitoring and abnormal behavior detection become critical.
Through tools such as Trustformer KYT, institutions can conduct real-time monitoring of high-risk addresses, suspicious transaction paths, and anomalous interactions—helping identify threats earlier and reduce potential asset losses.
Conclusion
As DeFi attack techniques continue to evolve, fund transfer paths are becoming increasingly covert. Leveraging on-chain data analytics and continuous risk monitoring mechanisms has become essential infrastructure for strengthening security transparency and responding effectively to emerging threats.