October Crypto Losses Drop, But Total Hacks Still Top $1.4 Billion This Year

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As a researcher who has been following the cryptocurrency sector for quite some time now, I find myself both alarmed and amused by the latest Immunefi report. The persistent challenges with hacks and scams are indeed concerning, but it’s almost like watching a cat chase its tail – no matter how many times we say “stop,” it just keeps going!

Based on recent findings by Immunefi, a company specializing in blockchain security, it’s predicted that the crypto market might continue to encounter issues such as hacking and fraudulent activities throughout the year 2024.

This year, the industry has experienced over $1.4 billion in losses due to 179 hacking incidents and scams, despite a decrease in monthly exploit losses.

During October, the total loss was $55.1 million, which is a substantial decrease compared to the $126.9 million lost in September, representing a drop of 56.6%. However, data from Immunefi suggests that the industry remains vulnerable, as the overall losses still amount to a considerable sum.

The significant October losses are mainly due to multiple occurrences involving various incidents. Seven distinct cases significantly increased the monthly losses, with two significant DeFi protocol hacks, Radiant Capital ($50 million) and Tapioca DAO ($4.4 million), causing the majority of the financial harm.

Crypto Sees Shifts In Security Strategies

Immunefi’s Head of Security, Gonçalo Magalhães, noted the ongoing advancements in the industry’s security landscape. He pointed out that projects are progressively integrating stronger security practices, such as conducting thorough audits, refining the architecture of smart contracts, and implementing bug bounty programs.

There’s been a significant increase in the maturity of security measures across the industry over the past few years, as you can see from these methods. While they seem effective at minimizing vulnerabilities, hackers are still finding and targeting any weaknesses they can find.

In October, the BNB Chain became the focus of the highest number of targeted attacks, accounting for approximately half (50%) of all such incidents. On the other hand, Ethereum and Arbitrum combined accounted for the remaining 50%, with each network experiencing around a quarter (25%) of the month’s attack occurrences.

The pattern of hacking incidents spread among these blockchains reveals that some networks consistently draw more attention, and it’s frequently Ethereum-linked systems that take the lead.

Continual attacks imply that despite enhancements in security, valuable assets and DeFi systems continue to attract malicious users.

Outlook For 2024: A Sector on Guard

2024 has seen a somewhat encouraging evolution in the crypto industry’s efforts to combat hacking and fraud incidents. According to Immunefi’s report, total losses this year have dropped by about 1% compared to last year, suggesting a steady improvement over time.

It seems like the decreasing number of monthly attacks and the emergence of this trend indicate that enhanced security precautions are indeed working. Furthermore, there’s a growing emphasis on implementing stronger security methods, conducting thorough examinations, and setting up distributed risk-mitigating insurance systems.

Nevertheless, major occurrences such as those impacting Radiant Capital and Tapioca DAO expose significant weaknesses. To illustrate, although centralized finance (CeFi) experienced no issues in October, Decentralized Finance (DeFi) continues to be a primary focus for these incidents.

Yet, with no Centralized Finance (CeFi) losses reported this month, it could signal a heightened attention from attackers towards decentralized protocols. This is due to the quick adaptation pace these protocols typically offer in strategy development.

October Crypto Losses Drop, But Total Hacks Still Top $1.4 Billion This Year

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2024-11-01 09:42