Hackers’ Strategic Shift
Hacking is like cancer which has been slowly eating traditional as well as non-traditional markets of the world. But the major victim of this cancer is online markets, and more particularly the crypto industry.
It seems that the hackers have made a major shift in their hacking tactics because some three years ago centralized crypto exchanges were their preferred targets.
However, these days the top targets are decentralized exchanges, particularly where there could exploit decentralized finance (defi) projects.
October – The Worst Month in Crypto History
An independent crypto activity monitoring firm, Chainalysis, has noted that so far this year October was the worst month in terms of hacking incidents.
It noted that within this month alone, to date, approximately 11 incidents of hacks have been reported. Consequently, roughly more than US$ 700 Million have been stolen by hackers so far from defi projects.
Four Hack Attacks In A Day
Surprisingly, there were four hack incidents reported which all occurred on the same day on 11th October 2022. These four hacks’ victims were Mango Markets, Rabby wallet, Temple DAO, and QANPlatform.
However, amongst the four victims, the biggest sufferer was Mango Markets where the hackers took approximately US$ 117 Million.
In the case of Mango Markets, the hackers exploited the network’s security protocols and obtained the native coin’s control over its value. Resultantly, against marginal security, the hackers borrowed massive MNGO coins.
After the attack, Mango Markets immediately suspended the deposits and said that they will be acquiring third-party assistance. The victim said that through help, they can freeze the funds before they could be cashed out.
$600 Million was Stolen This Month
One of the major targets of hackers these days is cross-chain bridges. Within this month, at least three bridges on the cross-chain have been exploited causing a loss of more than US$ 600 Million.
If the loss is examined then it will be noticed that the loss accounted for approximately 64% of the total loss inflicted in 2022 so far.
Similarly, in terms of losses accrued within this month alone, the loss of cross-chain bridges breach would account for roughly 82%.
As per Chainalysis, the percentage of losses accumulated in 2022 so far has already exceeded the total loss inflicted in 2021. Earlier it was said that 2021 was the worst year which witnessed the highest loss ever due to hacks.
2021’s Hack Record about to Be Broken
But till mid-October, the 2021 record is about to be broken soon. Considering the average rate of hack attacks, it can easily be said that 2022 would become the worst year in the history of the crypto industry.
Unfortunately, the year hasn’t ended yet. Till mid-October, the hackers have stolen more than US$ 3 Billion in their 125 attempts.