Shakeeb Ahmed, a former software engineer at Amazon, was given a three-year prison term for his part in a $12 million cryptocurrency hack. This is the first time someone has been sentenced for a cyberattack on smart contracts.
Ahmed admits to changing smart contracts in December 2023. He took advantage of weak spots in the contracts of platforms by adding fake pricing information. Because of this move, Ahmed withdrew about $12 million in unearned profits in the form of cryptocurrency.
Ex-Amazon Platforms – Crema, Nirvana
Prosecutors did not say which platform was affected, but there is evidence in the indictment that leads to Crema Finance. Nirvana Finance, the other site involved, shut down after the July 2022 hack.
Before the event, Ahmed was in charge of Amazon’s bug bounty program, which found and fixed software security holes for the company. The prosecution wanted a four-year jail sentence because the case was so unusual because it involved hacking into a smart contract. They stressed how important Ahmed’s jail time was as a warning and to show how bad his crimes were, even though he cooperated and returned most of the funds that was stolen.
Ahmed’s defense, on the other hand, asked for probation, pointing out that his mental health was affected during the hacks and that most of the stolen fund had not been spent except to pay for a family member’s medical bills. Due to the fact that Ahmed is from Saudi Arabia, his lawyers also asked for mercy.
