July saw 17 crypto hacks worth $142 million through the month, in a 27% increase from June.
CoinDCX lost $44.2 million in a breach involving malware on an employee's laptop and was the worst hit
Experts are warning that hackers are shifting focus from smart contracts to backend systems.
The crypto industry suffered another blow in July, with hackers stealing over $142 million in just 17 attacks. This stands as a 27% jump from June’s $111 million, and raises fresh worries over blockchain security.
The most damaging of these attacks affected Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX, where $44.2 million was stolen in a hack linked to malware planted on a developer’s laptop.
CoinDCX was hit hardest in July’s wave of crypto hacks.
On July 18, attackers stole $44.2 million from the exchange by taking advantage of an internal operational account used for liquidity provisioning. CoinDCX CEO Sumit Gupta described it as a “sophisticated server breach” and confirmed that customer wallets are still untouched.
Total hacks for July | Twitter
The hack ended up being traced back to software engineer Rahul Agarwal, who unknowingly installed malware on his laptop. He was tricked into doing so through a fake part-time job offer and at first, Agarwal used his personal laptop, before moving tasks to his office device which allowed hackers access to internal systems.
Police in Bengaluru arrested Agarwal, even though he has denied knowing anything about the theft.
Decentralized exchange GMX was the second most affected platform. On July 11, hackers hacked the protocol and drained $42 million in crypto.
Interestingly, this story took a surprising turn because days later, the attacker returned most of the stolen funds. PeckShield reported that the exploiter sent back about $40.5 million including 10,000 ETH and 10.5 million FRAX.
While the return may have eased the financial damage, the hack exposed vulnerabilities even in well-audited DeFi protocols.
Other protocols like the BigONE Exchange was hit on July 16, with this exchange losing $28 million in a third-party hack that targeted its hot wallets.
Later down the line on July 24, WOO X was hit for $14 million after a phishing attack compromised a team member’s device. Finally, Future Protocol lost approximately $4.2 million in a similar hack.
WooX Exploited for $14 million | Twitter
Through it all, most of these attacks show that there is a clear trend in crypto hacks, especially when it comes to social engineering.
According to insights from Rob Behnke, chairman of blockchain security firm Halborn, attackers tricked a WOO X team member into giving them access to their device. Once inside, the hackers accessed the development environment and carried out multiple transactions before anyone noticed.
July’s hacks affected multiple blockchains. Tokens were stolen across Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB) and Arbitrum (ARB).
This surge in July adds to an already alarming year for the crypto industry. In the first half od the year alone, over $2 billion has been stolen through various crypto hacks. According to security experts, while DeFi platforms often conduct smart contract audits, they still leave backend systems and employee devices vulnerable.
Hackers have picked up on this, and are adjusting their tactics.
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