$2.47 million in cryptocurrency stolen from Turkish firm by hackers communicating through PUBG

Cryptocurrency networks are often exposed to the threat of thefts that loom over the network’s security. It is for this reason that such networks and firms spend a significant amount of capital to fix the critical vulnerabilities and improve the protection quotient.

A Turkish firm failed this test after a group of cyber criminals pulled off an online heist on a domestic cryptocurrency company. The group of alleged hackers has been detained by the local authorities and according to reports, the hackers used the highly popular game PUBG as a medium of communication prior to the cryptocurrency theft.

The Turkish company which has fallen to the vicious attack of the virtual hackers is an Istanbul-based cryptocurrency firm. According to the Daily Sabah, a local news publication, the identity of the firm has not been disclosed, however, it has been suggested that the firm provides digital currency trading platforms.

A reported $2.47 million was stolen in the hack. The police authorities have suspended 24 members involved in the felony, following a nationwide investigation across eight of Turkey’s provinces. However, police raids could only recover $256,000 of the stolen $2.47 million.

The authorities had been informed about the hack by the cooperation itself. In its primary report, it stated that a large amount of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP had been stolen. However, the Istanbul Cybercrime Branch Officer later clarified that not one, but two firms’ cryptocurrencies were compromised, amounting to a total of 13 million lira. The funds were transferred from the company wallets to the digital wallets controlled by the hackers.

The official police report has also confirmed that the felons had been communicating with each other using the popular battle royale video game called Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, or popularly known as PUBG.

The incident, which highlights yet another case of a firm’s compromised security, has raised a lot of questions and reactions. A Redditor, bitcoin_master, commented:

“It is safest for one to protect their Bitcoin and other digital assets by taking responsibility for securing their own financial capital and keep a check of their own private key.”