Cryptocurrency-related crimes surged in 2024, with over $2.36 billion lost across 760 on-chain security incidents—a 31.61% increase in stolen value compared to 2023, according to “Hack3d: The Web3 Security Report 2024” by security-focused ranking platform and smart contract auditor Certik.
What’s the significance: The report emphasizes the escalating need for improved security protocols and regulatory measures to safeguard investors and the web3 ecosystem while stressing the importance of understanding security challenges and trends in the space.
Key Details: CertiK’s Hack3d: The Web3 Security Report for 2024 analyzed blockchain and smart contract security and offered insights into web3 exploits, vulnerabilities, and trends.
- The report provided a statistical analysis of the most exploited attack vectors, top incidents, and the resilience of the crypto industry.
Key Findings: These are the data related to web3 exploits, vulnerabilities, and trends for 2024 only.
- $2.36 billion was lost across 760 security incidents in crypto.
- Losses increased by 31.61% year-over-year.
- Phishing attacks were the most costly, accounting for nearly half of the stolen funds.
- Total Losses: $1.05 billion lost across 296 phishing incidents.
- Average Loss: $2.83 million per attack, with a median loss of $207,556.
- Quarterly Losses: Q2 saw the highest losses at $433.7 million from 67 incidents, with a decline in subsequent quarters but still high compared to previous years.
- On the other hand: Excluding phishing, ecosystem security appears to have improved.
- Private key compromises caused $855 million in losses.
- Ethereum was the most affected ecosystem, with 403 incidents leading to $748 million lost.
- Hackers targeted $BTC and $TRX, stealing $542 million and $133 million, respectively.
- May 2024 saw the highest losses, totaling $444 million in 63 incidents.
TheNumbers: Comparing Top Exploits from 2021 to 2024.
- 2021: $2.7 billion Thodex exploit, $602 million Poly Network exploit.
- 2022: $624 million Ronin Network exploit, $477 million FTX exploit.
- 2024: Only the WazirX incident at $231 million made the top 20, indicating fewer incidents surpassing $100 million in losses.
The factors influencing losses, according to the report:
- Evolving Attack Techniques: Hackers employ advanced tactics such as social engineering and zero-day exploits, targeting vulnerabilities beyond basic security measures.
- Variable Security Standards: Inconsistent security quality across projects and exchanges, such as inadequate audits or poor private key management, increases vulnerability.
- Regulatory Gaps: Inconsistent regulations across jurisdictions can impact the prevalence of theft.
- Market Conditions: High-value markets and price spikes increase the reward for successful attacks, incentivizing hackers.
- Protocol Complexity: More complex DeFi protocols may contain hidden vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit.
- Centralized Weak Points: Centralized systems present single points of failure, where compromising these areas can result in disproportionately large losses, regardless of decentralized TVL.
Between the Lines: Despite the alarming rise in total losses, the shift toward phishing and private key compromises highlights attackers’ focus on user errors, while improved security measures have reduced losses from traditional DeFi exploits.
Worth Reading: Learn how to protect digital assets, check out:
This article is published on BitPinas: Crypto Crimes Surge in 2024: $2.36B Lost in Security Breaches
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