Poly network announces $500,000 bug bounty program in the wake of $610 million Hack

PolyNetwork has announced an upcoming security upgrade with a $500,000 bug bounty program on the Immunefi blockchain. The bug bounty system is scheduled to be launched today, i.e., on August 17, 2021. The poly network is offering a $100,000 reward per valid Bug Bounty, with a total bounty pool of $500,000.

After being the center of the Crypto industry’s biggest hack, worth $610 Million, Poly network has received considerable criticism on its security protocols. The bug bounty program security upgrade is Poly network’s effort to prevent any foreseeable breaches.

Weak security protocols led to the Hack

August 10, Tuesday, the Defi cross-chain protocol Poly Network suffered the biggest crypto heist in history. Hackers stole approximately $610 million worth of cryptocurrencies from Poly Network operating across three blockchains, the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Ethereum (ETH), and Polygon.

Poly Network alerted the respective exchange platforms to block any transactions originating from hacked accounts. The Defi cross-chain platform demanded the hackers to return the stolen assets and threatened them with legal action. However, the attackers returned the stolen funds, they highlighted the incompetence of Poly Network’s protocol developers. Additionally, the attackers claimed that the attack would have been in billions if they had included “Shitcoins” in the stolen assets.

Neko Network Hack

The poly network hack could’ve given rise to a chain of foreseeable hacks. Recently, Neko Network suffered a breach worth 2 million in Stablecoins. Neko Network attackers acquired 2 million USDT, 390,000 BUSD, and 1 BTCB.

Like the Poly Network hack, Neko Network’s attackers also found a loophole due to fragile security protocols. Neko Network lending protocol’s shortcoming on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) gave the hackers an easy in. This loophole in the protocol was then used to mortgage assets in the name of the users and the borrowed funds directly sent to the attacker’s address.

The attackers in this scenario also agreed to return the stolen assets. However, experts argue the returns are obvious in lieu of inconvenience. They claim, it is highly bothersome to launder such large amounts of asset brackets.