Security News > 2021 > June > Hacker forum contest gives $100K for new ways to steal digital assets
The administrator of a Russian-speaking cybercriminal forum has held a contest for the community to share uncommon methods to target cryptocurrency-related technology.
Members of the forum had one month to submit their papers and enter a competition that promised more than $100,000 in prizes.
The announcement came on April 20 and asked for research papers that explored various ways to steal private keys and cryptocurrency wallets, uncommon mining software, smart contracts, or non-fungible tokens.
In a report today, threat intelligence company Intel 471 notes that after the initial post from the administrator, another forum member added $15,000 to the initial prize pool.
Another forum user detailed how to create a phishing site for grabbing the keys to the cryptocurrency wallets and the corresponding seed phrases, which are essential to recovering access to the digital wallet.
Various underground forums have sponsored such contests before and even cybercriminal groups pitched in to gain new knowledge that could help with their attacks.