In the first half of 2023, the crypto industry experienced a total of 395 hacks, causing a loss of approximately $479.4 million, according to data from PeckShield.
The silver lining is that this figure marks a significant improvement from the same period in 2022, with the monetary losses decreasing almost fivefold.
Notably, the ten largest hacks accounted for a substantial 79% ($378.3 million) of the total stolen funds. Leading the pack were Euler Labs’ DeFi protocol, suffering a loss of $197 million, and the decentralised wallet Atomic Wallet, which lost $65 million.
Thanks to the efforts of white hat hackers, security companies, and law enforcement agencies, a commendable $226.2 million was successfully recovered.
April proved to be the most challenging month, witnessing a staggering $203.3 million being stolen during that period.
DeFi protocols were the primary target for hackers, with a striking 98% ($414 million) of all attacks in 2023 being directed towards them. Most of these attacks took aim at projects running on the Ethereum network, leading to losses amounting to $287 million.
The top three areas of DeFi hacks included logistical errors in code (46%), oracle manipulation (15%), and privilege hijacking (14%). Interestingly, 76% of attackers employed flash credits in their nefarious activities.
As a point of reference, in 2022, Beosin experts estimated the damage from 167 major attacks to be a staggering $3.6 billion. Crosschain-bridge incidents accounted for more than half of the total losses, with a substantial $1.89 billion being lost.
Stay vigilant and prioritize security in the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrencies!
Read more: Matrixport Predicts Bitcoin Price to Skyrocket to $125,000 by the End of 2024
