Platypus Finance hackers acquitted by French court
Two brothers responsible for stealing $8.5 million from DeFi protocol “Platypus Finance” were released without repercussions by a French court.
On February 16, hackers achieved this: Unload and transport $8.5 million from Platypus through a flash credit attack, forcing the protocol to suspend trading services until a solution is found. Initial investigations identified the culprit as Mohammed M., who took advantage of a bug in the code to withdraw all assets from the protocol through an unsecured loan.
We see one #flashcredit attack @Platypusdefi It will result in a potential loss of ~$8.5 million.
Tx AVAX: 0x1266a937c2ccd970e5d7929021eed3ec593a95c68a99b4920c2efa226679b430
Stay frosty! pic.twitter.com/AM2HOM5M2r
— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) February 16, 2023
With the help of Binance’s cybersecurity team and independent investigators, the stolen funds were tracked down and eventually led to the hackers Mohammed and his brother Benamar M.
The couple has been detained since February 24. At the hearing on October 26, the brothers said they were “ethical hackers” and admitted stealing the money. The hackers also announced to the Paris court their intention to return the money in exchange for 10% of the loot.
Given the similarity to a bug bounty attempt, the brothers were cleared of all charges. However, $8.5 million worth of cryptocurrency stolen by hackers became inaccessible because it was locked in a wallet.
During the criminal case, Platypus suffered losses of $ 2.2 million. Another flash loan exploit.
Due to suspicious activity in our protocol, we took proactive action and temporarily suspended all pools.
Further updates will be communicated to the community in a timely manner.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time.— Platypus (++) (@Platypusdefi) 12 October 2023
An investigation by cybersecurity firm CertiK revealed that the October 12 attack was carried out in three phases: The hacker stole $2.23 million, $575,000, and finally $450,000 in various cryptocurrencies.
On October 17, Platypus managed to recover 90% of the stolen money thanks to a deal with the hacker.
Also read: Platypus Finance recovered 90% of assets lost in exploit
