The media revealed the details of the negotiations between Binance and the mysterious "KYC-hacker"

A hacker under the pseudonym Bnatov Platon claims that he was able to track down attackers who hacked the Binance bitcoin exchange in May. According to him, access to the API of users was provided to them by a person inside the company, whom Platon also identified. At the same time, the hacker supposedly has 60,000 files with the KYC data of Binance users. All this was found out by CoinDesk , to which Platon provided a series of evidence.

So, the publication received 636 files with KYC data and managed to confirm the authenticity of two documents (date – February 24, 2018). At the same time, another document was partially modified for unknown reasons, but also contained some relevant data.

Platon emphasized that he managed to hack an insider who allegedly installed a backdoor on the exchange systems (via API keys) and helped hackers steal 7000 BTC in May, and thus gain access to users' personal data.

CoinDesk Data

CoinDesk Data

CoinDesk Data

Note that Platon himself considers himself a white hacker. He demanded a reward from Binance for providing information about intruders (names, phone numbers, photos, server data, correspondence). Representatives of the exchange eventually told him that they would not respond to extortion.

“If I really needed money, I would just hack into the wallets of those very hackers. I would easily receive 600/700 coins , ”he said, adding that he is a fairly wealthy person. Nevertheless, he still counted on a Binance bounty of allegedly 300 BTC.

Platon claims to have tracked the hackers to the wallet from the Blockchain.com provider, then, according to him, they laundered at least 2,000 BTC through Bitmex, Yobit, KuCoin and Huobi sites.

Now he intends to publish personal data in the public domain.

"It was not even necessary to start negotiations with Binance … Now I want to look at the reaction of hackers and an insider."

Note that representatives of the trading platform have not yet responded to the publication of CoinDesk, but Changpeng Zhao retweeted a record criticizing the publication.

Disappointed with Coindesk. Misreports many "details"; Takes word verbatim from a fake "altruistic white hat" hacker, who hides behind an avatar, and demands 300BTC upfront, claims he can hack the hackers (but doesn't), and turns that into "news". Bad reporters make FUD Desk.

– truthseeker (@truthurtm) August 8, 2019

CoinDesk has been criticized by other media. So, the head of The Block, Mike Dudas, emphasized that it was impossible to just talk with a hacker who blackmails Binance and threatens to publish personal user data.

If a hacker comes to us at @TheBlock__ and tells us that they are a criminal who has compromised an exchange like @binance 's security systems as well as thousands of deeply personal private customer records, we won't sit on it for a month while the criminals extort the exchange.

– Mike Dudas (@mdudas) August 7, 2019

CoinDesk replied that on July 20 they created a general chat with Platon and representatives of the exchange. At that time, journalists emphasized, he positioned himself as a white hacker. Dudas was not convinced by such arguments, but it is worth noting that The Block is not the first time publicly accusing CoinDesk and other media of incompetence.

Of course. Common practice of hackers to start a group chat with the press and the place they plan to steal money and information from. No red flags there @Coindesk . Very prudent.

– Mike Dudas (@mdudas) August 7, 2019

Binance claims that at present, no evidence has been submitted that any photos with KYC data were obtained from them.

“These images do not contain the digital watermark that our system puts.”

It is known that in February 2018, Binance hired a contractor to conduct KYC procedures due to high demand, however, it is still unknown what kind of data the third party could receive as part of this cooperation.

For personal information, the Platon exchange offers 25 BTC.

Recall that in May Binance was subjected to a hacker attack, during which attackers brought out 7000 BTC. The losses were covered from the funds created in the middle of last year by the #SAFU fund.

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