Hackers, such as the one who boosted $611 million from Poly Network in cryptocurrency and returned it, show how the systems are vulnerable. (Source: stock photo)

Removal of $611 Million in Cryptocurrency by Hacker Shows Security Flaws

In what has been a gloomy news cycle for everything from Afghanistan to Haiti’s earthquake comes a story of theft that turns out to be funny, overall.

Have you heard about one of the biggest crypto coin heists in history? And how the hacked company wants to pay the hacker if they give the money back? Oh, this is just the beginning of a great piece we found at gizmodo.com and it was humorously written by Lucas Ropek.

Here is what happened first.

A cryptocurrency platform that was hacked and had hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from it has now offered the thief a “reward” of $500,000 after the criminal returned almost all of the money.

A few days ago a hacker exploited a vulnerability in the blockchain technology of decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Poly Network, pilfering a whopping $611 million in various tokens—the crypto equivalent of a gargantuan bank robbery. It is thought to be the largest robbery of its kind in DeFi history.

The company subsequently posted an absurd open letter to the thief that began “Dear Hacker” and proceeded to beg for its money back while also insinuating that the criminal would ultimately be caught by police.

Amazingly, this tactic seemed to work—and the hacker (or hackers) began returning the crypto. As of Friday, almost the entirety of the massive haul had been returned to blockchain accounts controlled by the company, though a sizable $33 million in Tether coin still remains frozen in an account solely controlled by the thief.

Not a bad paycheck for a day’s work.

Good Guy, Bad Guy?

It seems the hacker/hackers had good intentions. At least that’s what they claimed. They just want to help teach the Poly Network how to fix its security systems.

“In another post, the hacker purportedly proclaimed, “I’m not interested in money!” and said, “I would like to give them tips on how to secure their networks,” apparently referencing the blockchain provider.”

And in other news:

“A hacker is claiming to have data related to more than 100 million T-Mobile customers in the U.S. and is selling access to part of the information for roughly $277,000.”

So the business of hacking crypto coins networks will have huge financial ramifications on the world’s economies in ways that aren’t even clearly understood yet. Clearly, AI-secured blockchain financial interactions can be hacked. Now what?

read more at gizmodo.com