A hitherto unknown hacker managed to steal a record amount of about 613 million dollars (520 million euros) in crypto coins from the exchange platform Poly Network on Tuesday. After pleading on Twitter, ‘Mr White Hat’ returns the virtual stolen good to the company, little by little.
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On August 10, a striking letter appeared on the Twitter account of Poly Network, a platform where users can exchange crypto coins with each other. “Dear Hacker, the Poly Network team would like to contact you and urge you to return the stolen funds,” it read.
The letter also stated that it was the highest amount stolen in the history of the world of ‘decentralized finance’ (crypto coins, which are not controlled by central banks).
“Every country considers what you did a serious economic crime and you will be prosecuted with certainty. The money you stole belongs to tens of thousands of ordinary people. You should contact us to work out a solution,” the letter argued.
The initiative paid off, although the hacker claims that he or she always intended to repay the stolen sums. “I had already announced that decision before midnight, so that anyone who had faith in me could sleep peacefully that night (wink emoticon).”
It is one of the many messages that the hacker has hidden in the transaction documents and used to return part of the funds to the platform. “Just for fun,” replied the most successful crypto hacker ever when asked why he or she attacked Poly Network.
The “ethical hacker” – white hat in English – happened to stumble upon a weakness in the computer code that controls transactions from one crypto currency to another. In his own words, “Mr. White Hat’ just to report that weakness. Ultimately, the fear prevailed that an employee of Poly Network would use the tip to steal himself. In addition, the hacker wanted the company to actually feel the warning to learn from it.
Poly Network has experienced scary days, but in the meantime the lion’s share of the stolen amounts has been returned to the company. On Twitter, Poly Network states that the “safety of acquired property is the sword of Damocles that hangs over the crypto world.” Meanwhile, major crypto players are contemplating the theme.
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