As a seasoned analyst with years of experience in the volatile world of cryptocurrencies, I find it reassuring to see that the losses from crypto scams, exploits, and hacks have shown a significant decline towards the end of 2024. However, as the old saying goes, “The best thief is time,” and we must remain vigilant even in times of seemingly improved security.
The decrease in December’s losses to $28.6 million compared to $115.8 million in October is a promising sign, but it’s crucial to remember that every dollar lost is a hard-earned investment for someone out there. The two most significant incidents, the exploit of GemPad and the hack on FEG‘s token bridge, serve as stark reminders of the vulnerabilities that still exist within the DeFi ecosystem.
The data shared by both CertiK and PeckShield corroborate each other, painting a picture of an industry that is improving but still has a long way to go. The breach at LastPass, which resulted in over $35 million worth of crypto being stolen from 150 victims, is a stark reminder of the ripple effects these incidents can have.
Looking ahead, it’s encouraging to see reports like Cyvers’ 2024 Web3 Security Report, which highlights a 40% increase in crypto theft compared to 2023. While this may seem concerning, it’s important to remember that we’re still significantly below the losses of 2022. As Deddy Lavid, co-founder and CEO of Cyvers, aptly pointed out, the rise in access control breaches, particularly in centralized exchanges and crypto custodians, is a trend worth monitoring.
In jest, I can’t help but think that if we were to create a time capsule filled with cryptocurrencies from 2024, it would make for an interesting conversation piece in the future—assuming, of course, that whoever finds it doesn’t decide to crack it open and cash out! After all, as long as there are people willing to take risks, there will always be those ready to exploit them. But rest assured, I’ll continue to keep a close eye on this ever-evolving landscape and share my insights along the way.
2024 saw a significant decrease in crypto-related losses due to frauds, vulnerability exploits, and hacks towards the end of the year, with December recording the lowest number of hacking incidents throughout the 12 months.
According to a recent update on platform X by blockchain security company CertiK, it was reported that approximately $28.6 million were lost due to exploits, hacks, and scams in December. This is lower than the losses in November ($63.8 million) and October ($115.8 million).
Based on the company’s report, a large portion of the total losses were due to exploits, with hackers stealing approximately $26.7 million in December.
Two major events occurred: First, there was a theft of approximately $2.1 million from the DeFi platform GemPad, where the thief managed to take assets by identifying and leveraging a weakness in the platform’s smart contract system.
In another significant security breach reported by CertiK, a hacker manipulated the token transfer mechanism (token bridge) within the DeFi project FEG. As a result, they managed to withdraw FEG tokens from the bridge contract without first depositing them on the original blockchain, ultimately leading to a loss of approximately $1 million.
As per an analysis conducted on December 31st by CertiK, the underlying issue stemmed from a mistake in the verification procedure for crosschain messages within the FEG system.
In a January 1st post on X, blockchain security company PeckShield disclosed that approximately $24.7 million were lost due to hacks in December. This figure represents a significant decrease of 71% compared to the losses experienced in November.
Among over 25 incidents reported by PeckShield, the December 16 and 17 breach experienced by users of the password management service LastPass, resulting in a loss of $12.3 million as indicated by on-chain evidence from Web3 investigator Zachxbt, was the most substantial.
In the chilling month of December 2022, I found myself, a humble crypto investor, on the receiving end of an unfortunate incident involving LastPass. Regrettably, malicious actors managed to obtain a copy of customer vault data from their encrypted storage, casting a shadow over our digital security.
Consequently, about 150 individuals have lost their cryptocurrency, with the cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs approximating in a September blog entry that the total value of these losses could reach up to $35 million.
In mid-December, the security breach experienced by DeFi market protocol Yei Finance was the second most significant incident of that month as reported by PeckShield, resulting in approximately $2.2 million being stolen.
According to a report from cybersecurity firm OnChain, which they shared with CryptoMoon on December 24, 2024, approximately $2.3 billion in cryptocurrency was taken during 165 separate security breaches throughout the year.
As per Cyvers’ findings, this represents a jump of approximately 40% compared to the year 2023, during which cybercriminals managed to steal around $1.69 billion in cryptocurrency.
Nevertheless, it’s currently 37% less than the $3.78 billion that was stolen in 2022.
Deddy Lavid, the co-founder and CEO of Cyvers, suggested to CryptoMoon that the increase in 2024 is probably due to the surge of security breaches related to access control, predominantly occurring in centralized exchanges (CEXs) and crypto custodians.
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2025-01-02 06:05