Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has revealed the extent of losses the crypto industry went through this year due to hacks in its latest report as North Korea tried to fund its way through sanctions through these hacks.
Losses from crypto hacks jumped 15% in 2024 as it rose to touch $2.2 billion from $1.8 billion in 2023, highlighting the increasing cybersecurity risks of the crypto world.
The cumulative amount of stolen crypto in the Jan-July segment was $1.58 billion, 84.4% higher than the same period in 2023, revealed the Chainalysis report. This was due to a steady increase in North Korea-linked hackers, which resulted in a whopping 102.88% spike in stolen crypto funds.
In 2024, North Korean hackers stole $1.34 billion in funds in 47 incidents, up from $660.50 million stolen in 20 hacking incidents in 2023. Hence, hacking incidents from North Korea have more than doubled over the year.
This accounts for 61% of the stolen crypto funds for this year compared to the 20% last year.
The number of crypto hacking incidents continues to grow every year. In 2019, the number of crypto hacking incidents jumped from 270 in 2018 to 298, and in 2024 it has risen to 303 from 282 in 2023. This shows a steady and consistent rise in hacking incidents, specially in the first half of the year between January to July.
There were more cybersecurity incidents reported in the first half than in the latter half, which shows a change in criminal tactics and possible patterns of hacking.
The report also links North Korean IT workers to these hacking incidents, suggesting that their growing presence in web3 and crypto companies could compromise the integrity and operations of blockchains. These IT workers are using sophisticated Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) including third-party intermediaries and false identities, to gain access to the system by manipulating their remote work opportunities, says the report.
DeFi still remains the prime target
The history of crypto hackers targeting DeFi platforms continued even this year as this sector is growing fast and has less robust security protocols. In the first quarter of 2024, most crypto funds were stolen from DeFi platforms while hackers shifted focus to centralized platforms in the second and third quarters of the year.
The two biggest centralized platform hacks happened in May and July when $305 million and $234.9 million were stolen from DMM Bitcoin and WazirX, respectively. These cyberattacks are undermining crypto platform centralisation as private keys are getting compromised, as 43.8% of stolen crypto assets were because of this.
The Chainalysis report further highlighted how attacks between $50 and $100 million, and those above $100 million, are happening more frequently in 2024 than they did in 2023. This shows that the hackers are getting better and faster at massive exploits. This is in stark contrast to the previous 2 years, where profits were below $50 million.
The hackers' ability to develop new strategies and to launder the stolen cryptos is also increasing at an alarming rate, as seen in the use of private keys to create blockchain bridges and mixing services to transfer the stolen assets. This is making it hard for authorities to track and recover the stolen funds.
Some hackers also broke ranks and laundered their profits through decentralised exchanges with techniques evolving day by day. This could potentially lead to bigger hurdles in stolen crypto recovery and raise doubts about the current regulatory measures of the world.
Chainalysis also announced that they are acquiring web3 security company Hexagate, which is a leading crypto threat-detection company that works to mitigate cybersecurity risks across blockchains. The company's technology is already used by Consensus and Coinbase.