Tag Archive for: Crypto

Amount in crypto stolen via hacking fell in 2023 but number of cases on the rise


SINGAPORE – The amount of stolen cryptocurrency from hacking may have fallen globally in 2023, but the number of incidents has risen, a report by blockchain research firm Chainalysis said.

The firm on Jan 24 said global funds stolen via crypto hacking plunged by about 54.3 per cent to US$1.7 billion (S$2.3 billion) in 2023 compared with the year before.

However, the number of individual hacking incidents grew 5.5 per cent the same year to 231, from 219 in 2022.

Hacking refers to the unauthorised access, manipulation or exploitation of computer systems, networks or information.

The report said cryptocurrency hacking has become a pervasive and formidable threat that has led to billions of dollars stolen from crypto platforms and exposing vulnerabilities across the ecosystem.

The drop in the amount stolen via crypto hacking in 2023 is largely because of a fall in decentralised finance, or DeFi, hacking. DeFi refers to a new financial system where transactions are made peer to peer on public blockchains.

“Hacks of DeFi protocols largely drove the huge increase in stolen crypto that we saw in 2021 and 2022, with cyber criminals stealing US$3.1 billion in DeFi hacks in 2022. But in 2023, hackers stole just US$1.1 billion from DeFi protocols. This amounts to a 63.7 per cent drop in the total value stolen from DeFi platforms year over year,” said Chainalysis.

The fall in the value and number of DeFi hacks come as DeFi operators become better at smart contract security, the report said.

Smart contracts are self-executing contracts on the blockchain, with the terms of the agreement directly written into code.

Ms Mar Gimenez-Aguilar, lead security architect and researcher at Web3 and blockchain security firm Halborn, said in the report that the rise in security measures in DeFi protocols is a key factor in lowering the number of hacks linked to smart contract vulnerabilities.

“If we compare the top 50 hacks by value lost from 2023 with those from previous years, there is a reduction in losses from 47 per cent of the total to 18.2 per cent,” she said.

Ms Gimenez-Aguilar said price manipulation attacks remained almost constant, with around 20 per cent of the total value…

Source…

This hacker used over a million virtual servers to create an incredibly powerful network – but then wasted it on mining crypto


Ukrainian police have arrested a hacker who allegedly used compromised servers belonging to an American company to secretly mine cryptocurrencies

The Ukrainian cyberpolice revealed the individual was able to create a million virtual servers on which he proceeded to install cryptojackers – cryptocurrency miners that try to operate in the background and without the knowledge or consent of the endpoint’s owners.

Source…

More than $80m in crypto stolen in Orbit Chain hack


The blockchain platform is working with numerous agencies including the Korean National Police Agency to support its investigation.

South Korea’s Orbit Chain, a platform designed to function as a multi-asset blockchain hub, has confirmed it suffered a major breach on the last day of 2023.

The company confirmed there was an “unidentified access to Orbit Bridge”, its decentralised cross-chain protocol, which resulted in more than $80m worth of cryptocurrency being stolen.

In a series of posts on X, Orbit Chain revealed details of the hack, saying the hacker used cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash to fund an initial Ethereum wallet before attacking Orbit Chain’s Ethereum vault. Tornado Cash hit headlines last year when its co-founders were charged with money laundering.

The stolen funds were then sent to numerous Ethereum wallets. Blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence showed Orbit Chain’s Bridge balance plummet from $115m to $31m between 31 December and 1 January.

In a post on X yesterday (2 January), Orbit Chain said the stolen assets “remain unmoved” at the time of posting and the team is constantly monitoring the stolen assets.

“Orbit Chain team has developed a system for investigation support and cause analysis with the Korean National Police Agency and KISA (Korea Internet and Security Agency), enabling a more proactive and comprehensive investigation approach. Furthermore, we are also discussing close cooperation with domestic and foreign law enforcement agencies,” the company said in a post.

“We sincerely request that all members of the Orbit Chain community and the Web3 ecosystem help spread this information as widely as possible.”

Crypto chaos

The crypto sector has come under increased scrutiny over the past couple of years, with many dubbing it an unregulated ‘wild west’.

2023 in particular saw a number of high-profile crypto hacks take place. In March, UK-based crypto platform Euler Finance lost an estimated $197m from hackers exploiting vulnerable code. However, the hackers later returned the funds.

Meanwhile, Ethereum-based crypto exchange Curve was targeted in a major hack in July 2023 and a few…

Source…