fbpx
PaymentsJournal
SUBSCRIBE
  • Analysts Coverage
  • Truth In Data
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Industry Opinions
  • COVID-19
  • News
  • Resources
No Result
View All Result
PaymentsJournal
  • Analysts Coverage
  • Truth In Data
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Industry Opinions
  • COVID-19
  • News
  • Resources
No Result
View All Result
PaymentsJournal
No Result
View All Result

Interconnected Defi Increases Attack Vectors: $600 Million in Crypto Stolen From Poly Network

Tim Sloane by Tim Sloane
August 12, 2021
in Analysts Coverage, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Fraud Risk and Analytics
0
Interconnected Defi Increases Attack Vectors: $600 Million in Crypto Stolen From Poly Network

Interconnected Defi Increases Attack Vectors: $600 Million in Crypto Stolen From Poly Network

0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

Criminals hacked their way into the Poly Network that enables users to swap tokens across multiple blockchains. Once into the Poly Network, the hacker used a vulnerability in smart contracts to steal from multiple blockchains stealing more than $600 million in various cryptocurrencies. 

The reaction from the crypto community was swift and so far it appears the hackers have returned $258 million of the ill-gotten gains:

“In making its announcement, Poly Network tweeted: “We call on miners of affected blockchain and crypto exchanges to blacklist tokens coming from the [aforementioned] addresses.” The platform also wrote: “We will take legal actions and we urge the hackers to return the assets.”

In a follow-up post Tuesday addressed to the hacker, Poly Network wrote: “We urge you to return the hacked assets. The amount of money you hacked is the biggest one in the defi history.”

It continued: “Law enforcement in any country will regard this as a major economic crime and you will be pursued.”

Update

As of Wednesday, the Poly Network hacker had reportedly returned $258 million of the stolen funds, according to London-based blockchain analysis firm Elliptic.

Earlier Wednesday, Poly Network initially confirmed that the hacker had returned at least $4.8 million of the stolen assets.

The hacker’s return of funds “demonstrates that even if you can steal cryptoassets, laundering them and cashing out is extremely difficult, due to the transparency of the blockchain and the use of analytics,” says Tom Robinson, co-founder and chief scientist at Elliptic. “In this case, the hacker concluded that the safest option was just to return the stolen assets.”

According to the blockchain firm, the hacker has also posted a Q&A in an ethereum message, calling the Poly Network “a decent system” and “one of the most challenging attacks.” The hacker claims to have used a temporary and “untraceable” email and IP address.

A Poly Network spokesperson tells ISMG that “the hacker exploited a vulnerability, which is the _executeCrossChainTx function between contract calls. Therefore, the attacker uses this function to pass in carefully constructed data to modify the keeper of the EthCrossChainData contract.

“It is not the case that this event occurred due to the leakage of the keeper’s private key,” the spokesperson adds.”

Overview by Tim Sloane, VP, Payments Innovation at Mercator Advisory Group

Tags: BlockchaincryptocryptocurrencyCybercrimeDeFifraudhackers
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

    Analyst Coverage, Payments Data, and News Delivered Daily
    Sign up for the PaymentsJournal Newsletter to get exclusive insight and data from Mercator Advisory Group analysts and industry professionals.

    Must Reads

    What to Expect from Diebold Nixdorf’s Upcoming Intersect Conference in Las Vegas

    What to Expect from Diebold Nixdorf’s Upcoming Intersect Conference in Las Vegas

    August 18, 2022
    Next-Gen ATMs Are a Key Part of Banks’ Digital Strategy

    Next-Gen ATMs Are a Key Part of Banks’ Digital Strategy

    August 17, 2022
    Embedded Finance: Digital  Innovation in the Cloud

    Embedded Finance: Digital Innovation in the Cloud

    August 16, 2022
    How Payments Integration Can Revolutionize Accounts Receivable

    How Payments Integration Can Revolutionize Accounts Receivable

    August 15, 2022
    Fed Survey Finds Access to Faster Payments Important to Most Businesses

    How to Ensure Accurate, Efficient Payments Amidst Economic Uncertainty

    August 12, 2022
    eCommerce Payments Fraud money mules

    Money Mules, You Are Already Have Them – Now What?

    August 11, 2022
    Why Banks and Credit Unions Need to Adopt Real-Time Payments Now

    Why Banks and Credit Unions Need to Adopt Real-Time Payments Now

    August 10, 2022
    Making Sense of Online Identity

    Making Sense of Online Identity

    August 9, 2022

    • Advertise With Us
    • About Us
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Subscribe
    ADVERTISEMENT
    • Analysts Coverage
    • Truth In Data
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Industry Opinions
    • COVID-19
    • News
    • Resources

    © 2022 PaymentsJournal.com

    • Analysts Coverage
    • Truth In Data
    • Podcasts
    • Industry Opinions
    • Faster Payments
    • News
    • Jobs
    • Events
    No Result
    View All Result

      Download the complimentary eBook - The power of today’s market‑ready AI to reduce transaction fraud