Home Cryptocurrency theft, $600M and a bug bounty reward

Cryptocurrency theft, $600M and a bug bounty reward

Aug 13– Earlier this week, Poly Network, a blockchain finance platform, experienced the theft of $600 million in virtual currencies. Now, Poly Network calls the hacker “Mr. White Hat,” as the hacker has begun to return the funds and may have simply wanted to expose an exploit. The company is still in the process of retrieving $33 million in Tether cryptocurrency, which was frozen by the Tether operators.

What happened

In a message shared by the cryptocurrency compliance firm, Elliptic, the hacker allegedly stole the funds “for fun.” He also wanted to “keep it safe” from other cyber criminals who might attempt to use the vulnerability that he identified. The money began to trickle back into Poly Network accounts less than 24 hours later.

“We would now like to thank his commitment for helping us improve Poly Network’s security and hope he will help contribute to the blockchain sector’s continued development upon accepting the Bug Bounty,” stated Poly Network.

The vulnerability

Initial investigations show that the hacker exploited a vulnerability that enabled him to replace the address of the funds manager and withdraw cryptocurrency in whatever quantities desired. Poly Networks aims to further optimize its systems ahead of resuming services, as to ensure that this bug and potential others like it cannot be exploited in the future.

Cryptocurrency hacks

Prior to this point, cryptocurrency thefts totaled $681 million. This attack nearly doubled that total. Cyber intrusions and thefts related to decentralized platforms represent roughly 75% of all cryptocurrency-focused hacks.

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