Crypto Industry lost over $313M to Hackers in August
The cryptocurrency industry lost a total of $313 million to various hacking schemes in the month of August.
#PeckShieldAlert August 2024 witnessed 10+ hacks in the crypto space, resulting in ~$313.86 million in losses. The 2 largest hacks, both involving unauthorized transfers (#Phishing), accounted for 93.5% of the total stolen funds, amounting to $293.4 million.#Top 5 Hacks in… pic.twitter.com/lIAieHdUqt
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) September 1, 2024
Blockchain security firm PeckShield Alert revealed that over ten high-profile hacks in the cryptocurrency space occurred in August, resulting in losses of nearly $313.86 million. The cybersecurity organization released the relevant data on their X feed.
Phishing attacks alone were responsible for 93.5% of all cryptocurrency funds stolen, according to the cybersecurity platform, resulting in a $293.4 million loss. Two phishing attacks out of the top five August hacks stole $55.4 million in Dai and $238 million in Bitcoin.
The Ronin Network exploit, which was able to retrieve $12 million from the hacker but experienced $5.1 million in unapproved cryptocurrency transactions, is one of the other notable losses. A smart contract exploit cost decentralized finance protocol Nexera $1.5 million as well.
Compared to July, these figures indicate an 18% increase in losses due to fraudulent activity. Interestingly, one of the biggest hacks of the year occurred at India's WazirX cryptocurrency exchange in July, resulting in the loss of $230 million from one of its multisig wallets. The hack affected users to the tune of almost $4.2 million.
According to a recent Immunefi report published on August 29, the crypto industry has already lost $1.21 billion in digital assets in 2024 as a result of hacks and rug pulls. The report claimed that over 150 hacking and rug pull incidents occurred in the first eight months of 2024.
In May, the crypto industry's biggest losses were caused by flash loan attacks. Attacks using flash loans cost the cryptocurrency industry an astounding $20.7 million. Flash loan attacks caused Sonne Finance to lose about $20 million, and TLN Protocol lost $746,000. Additionally, losses of $32,394 and $8,343 were reported by GPU and Saturn Token, respectively.
A group of ethical hackers has established an elite "SEAL" team to fortify defenses and stop breaches worse than those that occurred in 2023 in response to the growing threat of cryptocurrency hacks. Almost 900 hack-related tickets have been received by the anti-hack response team SEAL (Security Alliance), which is headed by white-hat hacker and Paradigm researcher Samczsun. The team was established in August 2023. The project will establish a battlefield for white-hat hackers and new protocols in order to strengthen protocols' resistance to cyberattacks.
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