With the everyday expansion of the crypto sector, there has been an exponential growth in cybercrime and hacks. The cybercriminals recognize this as a lucrative opportunity in the budding space that has seen large amounts of money moving around, as well as accumulating in crypto wallets.
According to recent data from a crypto platform, more than $3.45 billion in assets have disappeared in 48 different crypto exchange custody attacks since 2012. Among the attacks, the most frequent method of theft includes hot wallet hacks (29.4%).
Notably, cold wallets refer to storing users’ crypto assets offline in a physical device, whereas hot wallets store private keys on an internet-connected device. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, with cold wallets being more secure but hot storage being more convenient and accessible.
In general, as the graphic demonstrates, the number of attacks in the cryptocurrency space has continued to grow. Among them, the crypto hackers have stolen more than $2.5 billion over the first three quarters of 2022 alone.
Further, the report states, other attackers made the use of bugs (3.9%), malware (3.9%), protocol vulnerabilities (2%), data leaks (3.9%) and internal staff mistakes (2%). Simultaneously, the share of attacks due to compromised systems (11.8%), unauthorized transactions (2%), suspected trusted insiders (11.8%), or a combination of various methods (2%), whereas 23.5% of attack vectors remain unknown.
As a solution to this widespread problem, the report concludes by suggesting that using institutional custodians focus on optimizing for asset security and protection, use cold storage, as well as include services like trading, staking, insurance, escrow, accounting, audit, and research offerings.
Additionally, it is important to note that, more recently, identity fraud connected with crypto wallets on popular crypto exchanges has been rampant as well. Few days back, it was spotted that stolen verified Coinbase accounts were selling for $610 and Kraken accounts going for $810 on the dark web.
The increasing threats in the crypto sector has been a nightmare to the investors. In this year itself, respective months have recorded high losses having the potential to cripple the sector in the long run if the scenario persists.
As Todayq News reported data from Peck shield, a blockchain security firm, which revealed that hackers stole $93.4 million from 41 exploits on various crypto projects in April. While this is a significant decline from the over $200 million stolen in March, it is still higher than the $35.3 million stolen in February.