Earlier this month, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange was the victim of an attack on its smart chain.
The attack occurred due to an exploit on Binance Smart Chain Bridge, where the attacker was able to transfer over half a billion Dollars in BNB through Binance’s platform.
Transactions on the Binance blockchain, and the Binance Smart Chain, were suspended today following the discovery of a suspected network vulnerability.
According to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, up to 90% of the stolen cash was blocked on the blockchain before it could be transferred. And now the business, which operates the world’s largest centralized crypto exchange, has received some assistance in locating the culprit.
Hacker(s) Attacked The BSC Bridge
Following the vulnerability, Sam Sun, a Paradigm researcher, stated on Twitter that the attacker “somehow got the Binance Bridge” to give them 1 million BNB twice.
According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, even before the Binance Smart Chain bridge was hacked, assaults on cross-chain bridges accounted for $2 billion, or 69% of all cash taken, from the beginning of the year through August.
The report states that smart chain bridges – (a service that allows users to link two blockchains that ordinarily cannot communicate with one other, allowing tokens to be exchanged between them) – are especially attractive due to the often featuring central storage of funds that support the “bridged” tokens on the target blockchain.
Narrowing Down Leads, Binance Wants To Find Single Hacker
Binance is “narrowing down” the person or people behind the assault after receiving leads from law enforcement, Zhao said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.“
“CZ” claimed in the CNBC interview that Binance is “chasing” the criminal while also helping authorities around the world in regards to catching potential “bad players”.
“Working with law enforcement is one of the ways that we can try to make the space safe,” Zhao said. “Actually, in this particular instant, law enforcement gave us some tips about who they think it might be. So we’re actually narrowing down.”
Vamping Up Security
Aside from working with law enforcement in order to catch potential attackers, Binance is also investing in its own security.
Recently, the exchange announced the hiring of BJ Kang – a former FBI agent as the new head of investigations for Binance’s United States branch.
In his new role, Mr. Kang will lead Binance’s security team and cooperate with law enforcement in order to create a more secure cryptocurrency ecosystem.
According to the company, the US will have its own “investigative infrastructure” to identify and neutralize crypto-related criminal activities on the site.
