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Hacked crypto site offers its attacker top job

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Reuters

Reuters

The unusual saga puts into the spotlight the fact that hackers can still find their way through platforms no matter how robust they are.

Published: Wed 18 Aug 2021, 10:31 PM

  • By
  • Alvin Cabral

The hacker who stole $610 million from a cryptocurrency platform has been offered a top job — by that very same victim.

PolyNetwork, which styles itself as a decentralised finance project, has invited the perpetrator of the heist — who they call ‘Mr White Hat’, a reference to ethical hackers whose purpose is to find vulnerabilities in systems — to become its top security advisor.

“To extend our thanks and encourage Mr White Hat to continue contributing to security advancement in the blockchain world together with PolyNetwork, we cordially invite Mr White Hat to be the chief security advisor,” the company said in a statement.

“Again, it is important to reiterate that PolyNetwork has no intention of holding Mr White Hat legally responsible, as we are confident that Mr White Hat will promptly return full control of the assets to PolyNetwork and its users.”

The unusual saga puts into the spotlight not just the fact hackers can still find their way through platforms no matter how robust they are, but also the power hackers wield over its victims — especially given that Mr White Hat had taken the unusual step of returning the stolen assets.

As at this writing, all but $33 million had been returned, but with a catch: Over $200 million was deposited by Mr White Hat into a joint account protected by two keys, one of which was given to PolyNetwork and the other with the hacker.

alvin@khaleejtimes.com



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