The $280 million exploit of Solana-based Drift Protocol may constitute civil negligence due to failures in basic security practices, according to crypto attorney Ariel Givner.
Givner said the Drift team failed to follow standard operational safeguards, including isolating signing keys and properly vetting external developers, exposing user funds to preventable risks.
“In plain terms, civil negligence means they failed their basic duty to protect the money they were managing,”
Said attorney Ariel Givner.
The attack was reportedly carried out by threat actors linked to North Korea, who spent months building trust with the Drift team before deploying malware through social engineering tactics.
According to Drift, attackers first made contact at a crypto conference in October 2025 and infiltrated systems over six months by sharing malicious links and fake applications.
The exploit highlights growing risks from social engineering and insider-style attacks, which can bypass even advanced technical safeguards if operational discipline is weak.
Legal pressure is mounting, with class action advertisements already circulating, as the incident raises broader concerns about accountability and security standards across DeFi platforms.
At the time of reporting, Solana price was $81.85.