Crypto attacks saw a huge increase in 2022 as many reports from several industry players showed a double increase to what was recorded last year.
The loss of over $1.5 billion in digital assets in 2021 was considered the highest in history until 2022. Until 31 October, about $2.98 billion of digital assets had been stolen. "Hacktober" — a new nickname — made headway negatively with many crypto hacks being committed.
With about two months left before the year ends, no one can tell where the next attack will occur. To identify the enormity of these attacks, let's look at some of the reports from Prominent cryptocurrency research firms.
Peckshield reported that as of 31 October 2022, the figure had doubled that of 2021.
A total of $2.9 billion worth of digital assets have been stolen. A Series of hacks and attacks have led to the loss of about $3 billion while the year is yet to end.
In a tweet by Peckshield, with the hashtag #PeckShieldAlert, 44 exploits were made affecting 53 protocols. Other details in the tweet include a total loss of $657.2 million, with about $100 million recovered.
Chainalysis detected about 125 hacks on crypto-based services and blockchain-enabled platforms. October saw about 44 attacks and earned the name "Hacktober." It is estimated that these attacks accounted for up to $760 million.
Similarly, March recorded another high rate of attacks, with about $710 million stolen. Although, only the Ronin Bridge exploits accounted for about $625 million of the loss in March.
The single highest exploit in October was the BNB Chain; about $586 million was stolen by the hackers. This was followed by the Mango Markets Defi protocol exploit.
Some other exploits that characterized October include Freeway Crypto yield attack, Transit swap, Moola market, etc. The Freeway crypto yield became a victim of a rug pull and lost about $60 million.
Transit Swap recorded a loss of $29 million, while Team finance and Moola Market lost $13 million and $9 million, respectively.
A separate report by Defiyield estimated the October hack to the tune of about $1 billion. The report identified various dubious acts, such as rug pulls and Ponzi schemes, as contributors to the loss of digital assets.
Defiyield reported 35 attacks in October and discovered that 15 were rug pulls. It, however, reported that about $890 million had been recorded out of about $3 billion stolen in 2022.
The exploits and attacks in the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem are getting incessant. No wonder there is about a 100% increase in stolen digital in 2022 compared to the previous year.
Since most of these exploits are on DeFi protocols, it is expedient to maintain routine checks on their smart contracts. Similarly, customers should look for suspicious links and discrepancies to reduce these attacks.
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