Security News > 2021 > August > The Curious Case of the $600 Million Crypto Heist

Cryptocurrency investors have been transfixed over the past few days by the antics of a mysterious hacker who stole more than $600 million - before giving some of it back.

The hacker struck Poly Network, a company that handles cryptocurrency transfers, on Tuesday in one of the biggest thefts of digital monies in history.

Another Japanese exchange, Coincheck, was hacked for nearly $500 million in 2018.

"The hacker could be simply afraid of action taken against him," he suggested, although he added that "White hat" ethical hackers do often seek to publicly shame companies for their security flaws.

The Poly heist is part of that trend, with the company calling it the biggest hack "In defi history".

Hackers extracted a $4.4 million ransom in Bitcoin from oil company Colonial Pipeline in May, but the FBI was able to track down most of the coins and seize them.

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