Hacken: Access control exploits account for nearly 80% of all crypto hacks in 2024

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As a seasoned researcher with years of experience under my belt, I can attest that 2024 was yet another year of learning and growth in the dynamic world of blockchain and cryptocurrency. The staggering $3 billion losses due to crypto hacks serve as a stark reminder of the challenges we face in ensuring the security of this nascent industry.

2024 saw crypto breaches causing approximately $3 billion worth of destruction, and it was primarily issues with access controls that accounted for 78% of these losses, as data indicates.

2024 saw yet another difficult season for the safety of blockchain systems, as reported by Hacken’s recent study, with approximately $3 billion worth of cryptocurrencies being stolen due to hacking incidents.

Despite comparable overall financial repercussions to the year 2023, there was a significant increase in cyber attacks leveraging access control loopholes. According to Hacken’s data, these weaknesses were responsible for about 78% of the incurred losses, impacting various industries such as decentralized finance, traditional finance, and gaming/metaverse platforms.

Based on the findings in the report, it appears that access control weaknesses were the most significant risk, responsible for approximately 75% of all cryptocurrency thefts, apart from phishing incidents. On the other hand, DeFi (Decentralized Finance) contributed to around 20.4% of total hack losses, whereas CeFi (Centralized Finance) accounted for 30%. Lastly, the gaming and metaverse industries experienced substantial losses amounting to $389 million, which equates to approximately 20% of all cryptocurrency theft damages.

As a crypto investor, I’ve noticed a significant decrease in cross-chain bridge losses, from a staggering $1.9 billion in 2022 to just $117 million this year, and further down from $330 million in 2023. This trend underscores the improving security measures within our blockchain ecosystem. However, it’s important to note that crypto projects are currently experiencing a rise in DNS hijacking incidents. This underscores the growing need for robust and comprehensive security strategies in our digital asset endeavors.

According to Hacken, the data used was obtained directly from trustworthy reports about cryptocurrency projects, which encompassed platforms such as X, incident reviews, and databases.

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2024-12-25 19:21