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Skyrocketing cryptocurrency bug bounties expected to lure top hacking…

Bounties as high as $10 million dollars make hunting cryptocurrency vulnerabilities lucrative for those with the proper skillsets. It might eventually drive up fees for traditional bounties, too.

As high-stakes cryptocurrency and blockchain projects proliferate and soar in value, it’s no surprise that malicious actors were enticed to steal $14 billion in cryptocurrency during 2021 alone. The frantic pace of cryptocurrency thefts is continuing into 2022.

In January, thieves stole $30 million in currency from Crypto.com and $80 million in cryptocurrency from Qubit Finance. February started with the second-largest decentralize finance (DeFi) theft to date when a hacker exploited a token exchange bridge in Wormhole to steal $320 million worth of Ethereum.

The largest cryptocurrency hack so far took place last August when blockchain interoperability project Poly Network suffered a hack that resulted in a loss of over $600 million. In an unusual move, Poly unsuccessfully attempted to publicly negotiate with the hacker a post-theft “bug bounty” of $500,000 in exchange for returning the $600 million, a bounty worth six times more than that typically offered in traditional cryptocurrency bug bounty programs.

This article appeared in CSO Online. To read the rest of the article please visit here.

Image by WorldSpectrum from Pixabay

 

Articles

The cybersecurity legislation agenda: 5 areas to watch

lead centered=”no”The 116th Congress is only a few months old, but far-reaching cybersecurity bills to protect infrastructure and the supply chain, ensure election integrity, and build a security workforce are now being considered. Here’s the list. /lead

New digital threats that could topple business, government, military and political institutions is moving cybersecurity to the top of the congressional agenda. The newly seated 116th Congress has so far seen 30 bills introduced in the House of Representatives and seven bills introduced in the Senate that directly deal with cybersecurity issues. That does not include other pieces of legislation that have at least some provisions that deal with information and digital security.

A key problem in grappling with such a complex issue as cybersecurity in Congress — and in Washington in general — is the diffused responsibility spawned by the wide-ranging, interconnected nature of the topic. Representative Jim Langevin (D-RI), a member of the Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees, and one of the founders of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, flagged this stumbling block at the 2019 State of the Net conference in January by calling for consolidation in Congress over cybersecurity.

Noting that around 80 groups within the legislative branch claim some jurisdiction over cybersecurity matters, Langevin said, “We as a Congress are going to have to move with greater agility to respond to the cybersecurity threats we face going forward, and we can’t do it under the current construct.” Langevin wants the House Homeland Security issue to take the lead on all matters related to cybersecurity.

This article appeared in CSO Online. To read the rest of the article please visit here.