One of the ways that ICOs have been hacked is by attackers creating a clone of the ICO website and then hacking DNS to redirect the domain name to a computer the attackers control. The new site looks exactly such as the official one, except the address where to send funds is changed. Because most addresses are hexadecimal and not effortlessly human distinguishable, this is an easy detail to overlook. If this happens for even a few minutes during a busy ICO, hackers can make off with hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.

Many DNS providers have different ways of locking DNS, and these security measures should all be enabled. Moreover, a DNS checking service where such as DNS Spy, should be used to regularly check for any changes in real time. Taking these countermeasures helps ensure that attackers trying to hijack DNS to steal funds will not be successful.