Stolen $900 Million: Hackers Breach Cryptocurrency Projects in Q3 2023
Date: 2023-09-27 Author: Dima Zakharov Categories: IN WORLD
In the third quarter of 2023, the cryptocurrency industry faced significant cybersecurity challenges, with a study by Beosin company revealing that the damage from hacks and attacks amounted to nearly $900 million. This report provides an overview of the most important events and trends related to security in the world of cryptocurrencies.
Trends in Cybersecurity Threats
Most often, hackers target projects in the DeFi (Decentralized Finance) sector. Over the past three months, 29 attacks were recorded, accounting for 64% of all incidents and resulting in losses of $98 million. This underscores the importance of ensuring security in this area.
The largest losses were incurred by public blockchains, especially due to the hack of the Mixin Network, which resulted in a loss of $200 million. This incident accounted for 37% of all losses for the quarter. It serves as a reminder that even public blockchains are not immune to attacks.
Losses in Payment Systems
Payment systems were also under attack, with two incidents related to hacks of Alpaho and Coinspaid, during which hackers withdrew $97 million. This demonstrates that cyber threats can affect various sectors of the cryptocurrency industry.
Blockchains Under Attack
Ethereum was particularly vulnerable during this period, becoming a target for hackers 16 times and losing $227 million. Mixin Network also ranked second in terms of attack volume. This highlights the importance of regularly updating the security of leading blockchains.
Types of Attacks
The most common types of attacks included compromise of private keys, resulting in leaks totaling $223 million. Attacks on cloud databases and vulnerabilities in contracts also led to significant losses, amounting to $200 million and $93 million, respectively. This underscores the need to strengthen security in various aspects of the cryptocurrency space.
Lazarus Group: North Korean Threat
The Beosin report also draws attention to the activity of the North Korean group known as the Lazarus Group. This group poses a serious security threat to Web3. They have employed social engineering, DDoS attacks, and phishing attempts to penetrate project systems. It is noted that the Lazarus Group holds $47 million in crypto across 295 wallets, making them even more dangerous.
