“No technology that’s connected to the internet is unhackable” , well said Abhijit Naskar
Nandini Roy Choudhury, writer
News in brief
Cryptocurrency earnings have surged in the first half of 2024, with a total of $1.38 billion worth of cryptocurrency stolen between Jan. 1 and June 24, more than double the previous year’s $657 million. The top five hacks accounted for 70% of the total amount stolen. The biggest theft of the year so far was over $300 million from Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin. Cybercriminals use stolen private keys and address poisoning to deceive victims. TRM Labs found no significant changes in crypto ecosystem security, but noted that higher cryptocurrency prices in the first half of 2024 may have increased the value of stolen cryptocurrency. Crypto companies have become prime targets for hacking and cyber threats. Implementing a multi-layered defense strategy, educating employees, and implementing a comprehensive incident response strategy can help protect against these threats.
News in detalis
In the first half of 2024, hackers managed to significantly increase their cryptocurrency earnings, surpassing the amount they obtained in the previous year, according to a report by TRM Labs, a blockchain research firm.
According to the report, a staggering $1.38 billion worth of cryptocurrency was stolen between Jan. 1 and June 24, which is more than double the amount of $657 million that was stolen during the same period last year. Similar to the previous year, a few significant attacks were responsible for the rise in stolen cryptocurrency. The top five hacks alone accounted for 70% of the total amount stolen in the first half of this year.
According to TRM Labs, compromises involving private keys and seed phrases are expected to be the top attack vectors in 2024. These seed phrases are essentially sequences of random words that hold the crucial information required to access or recover a cryptocurrency wallet.
The biggest theft of the year so far took over $300 million worth of bitcoin from Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin.
Cybercriminals employ various tactics to deceive victims and steal their cryptocurrency. One method involves using stolen private keys, while another technique called address poisoning is used to trick individuals into sending funds to the wrong wallet. In this scheme, attackers send a small amount of crypto from a wallet that has an address designed to closely resemble yours or your recipient’s, hoping to deceive and misdirect the victim.
Working with crypto addresses can be challenging due to their lengthy and intricate nature, making them prone to errors when manually entered or memorised.
TRM Labs stated that there have been no significant alterations in the security of the crypto ecosystem that could have potentially led to the rise in the amount stolen. The report indicated that there was no significant difference in the number of attacks and attack vectors from one year to another.
However, the company pointed out that cryptocurrency prices have generally been higher in the first half of this year, potentially leading to the increased value of stolen cryptocurrency.
Crypto companies have become prime targets for hacking and cyber threats.
In 2014, Mt. Gox, a crypto exchange, declared bankruptcy due to a string of hacks that resulted in the theft of approximately 950,000 bitcoin. These stolen bitcoins are now valued at over $54 billion based on current prices.
In November, approximately $115 million was taken from HTX exchange and Heco Chain, two cryptocurrency platforms associated with prominent entrepreneur Justin Sun.
According to TRM Labs, implementing a multi-layered defence strategy that includes regular security audits and strong encryption can help crypto firms protect against hacks and exploits.
By educating employees and implementing a comprehensive incident response strategy, companies can enhance their protection, according to the source.
Source : CNBC News
