The post Crypto Hacks in 2024: Centralized Exchanges Are Now the Top Targets for Cybercriminals appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News
The 2024 Chainalysis Crypto Crime Report underscores a troubling reality: The crypto loss growth was significantly marginal with the total amount lost to crypto hacks reaching $2.2 billion, 21% higher than in 2023. 303 cases of crypto theft were noticed in 2024 while there were fewer of 282 cases in 2023.Â
This is the fifth consecutive year where the crypto theft figure has exceeded $1 billion, which simply highlights the dangers of embracing crypto assets as they become mainstream.
The Reason Why North Korea Dominates the Cybercrime World
More specifically, North Korean hackers contributed to $ 1.34 billion of the total simulated funds that were stolen within forty-seven attacks, more than double the $660.5 million stolen in 2023.Â
These exploits which constituted 61% of all the thefts show that Pyongyang has developed sophisticated cyber techniques to finance state activities such as weapon development. However, from July 2024 North Korea’s activity reduced by 53.7 %, probably due to geopolitical factors such as the Putin Kim Jong Un Summit Meet.
A Shift in Hacker Targets and Gradual Change in Their Ways
One could also notice the change of targets in 2024. The decentralized finance platforms majorly led earlier years, while this year, the centralized services rose to the trends in Q2 and Q3.
Some of them were the $305 million DMM Bitcoin exchange attack in Japan and India’s WazirX which was attacked for $234.9 million. The lack of proper management of private keys, which made up 43.8% of stolen funds, was a commonly used tactic by hackers.
Money laundering also became more sophisticated when more hackers started using bridges and mixing services to cover their tracks. For instance, while extorting DMM Bitcoin, cybercriminals used mixers and multiple intermediate accounts before the money reached inconspicuous markets.
Strengthening Crypto Security
To progress, the current crypto industry has to enhance security approaches, increase private key security, and engage with both the government and private players. Amid evolving rules and oversight, protection of customer’s assets and sound operation of the digital marketplace will continue to be critical to maintaining confidence in Crypto world.
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