Binance exchange representatives have offered a generous reward for information about hackers who tried to extort cryptocurrencies last week using stolen API keys from individual exchange users.
Binance exchange representatives have offered a generous reward for information about hackers who tried to extort cryptocurrencies last week using stolen API keys from individual exchange users.
Recall. Last Wednesday, through previously carried out phishing attacks, fraudsters managed to gain access to a certain number of API keys of individual users, used, among other things, to conduct automated trading on the stock exchange, often through so-called trading bots.
API keys provide full access to trading options, but do not allow funds to be withdrawn from a given exchange account. Therefore, in this case, the method of “cryptocurrency laundering” was used – for this purpose, the little-known Viacoin coin was used, but it is available on the Binance exchange, which was sold at an inflated rate to the account of the compromised accounts for bitcoins. These, in turn, were withdrawn from their own accounts, in small quantities (so as not to arouse the suspicions of the exchange) by the fraudsters to their wallets.
As Binance administrators assure, the threat was detected in time and all incorrect transactions were withdrawn. As a preventive measure, the exchange decided to block withdrawals of currency and cryptocurrency funds from user accounts for a certain period of time.
Today, in an official statement, the exchange’s administration announced a $250,000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the hackers. This sum would be paid in the exchange’s native coin – Binance Coin (BNB).
Additionally, Binance says it has set aside a separate pool of cryptocurrency assets worth $10 million as a “reserve for future rewards against illegal hacking activity” for the exchange. The exchange is also inviting “other exchanges and cryptocurrency businesses to join” the initiative.
Let’s not hide the fact that the chances of identifying and convicting the individual perpetrators of last week’s attempted attack on selected Binance exchange accounts are slim in this case, and the reward itself is rather intended to deter and prevent potential future attempts at similar hacks.
With daily trading volume regularly exceeding $2 billion and a user base of over 6 million, Binance is now the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. Its owner, Changpeng Zhao, was recently ranked third on Forbes’ list of the world’s richest people to have made their fortune in cryptocurrencies. Zhao’s net worth is currently estimated at $1.1 billion to $2 billion.
