Largest Crypto Heist in History
The events leading up to the bug bounty programs will go into hackers history books as the largest cryptocurrency heists ever. On 10 August 2021, unknown perpetrators stole 600 million dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency. They transferred the stolen Ether, Binance Coin and Tether into separate wallets. In an open letter, Poly Networks urged the cybercriminals to return the hacked assets. Surprisingly, they did. Or at least in part. Hours after the attack the hackers started returning the funds bit by bit. First, in small amounts. Later, in larger deposits. Two days after the heist, they had returned almost half of the 600 million. Poly Network promised the hackers a reward of $500,000 once the total amount was returned. They said they categorized their actions as a “white hat” hack. Hence the hacker’s nickname, MrWhiteHat. The hacker himself later responded that he’s not interested in the money and would return the total amount nonetheless. Last Friday, all tokens were returned, as promised. Minus $33 million in USDT stablecoins frozen by Tether.
$500,000 Bug Bounty
This morning, Poly Network officially joined Immunefi’s bug bounty program. The total bounty pool of $500,000 is available to security researchers and white hat hackers who submit valid bugs. For every critical vulnerability, there’s a $100,000 reward. No legal action will be taken against anyone trying to hack Poly Network systems, as long as their penetration efforts are within the outlined scope. The bug bounty program is one of the first steps on Poly Network’s security roadmap, along with patching known vulnerabilities and an audit of core functions. The aim of this roadmap is to safely and securely resume operations and recover all user assets. Poly Networks asked users who are unable to transfer assets to try to remain calm and patient. “Your understanding will help the team handle your asset recovery in the most appropriate manner.” The outcome will no doubt affect people’s confidence in the crypto industry.
Digital Currencies Resilient
Blockchains and cryptocurrencies have proven to be resilient. Despite the ups and downs, the surge in bitcoin and cryptocurrency scams, the breaches, the crackdowns and the sprawl in digital currencies – not all of them legitimate – it is now widely accepted that crypto is here to stay. Many expect that some cryptocurrencies will simply evolve and become a mainstream currency in the years to come. The main “if” is confidence. Because when it comes to financial transactions, security is key.
