A recent report by cybersecurity company found that over the past two years cryptocurrency exchanges have lost $882 million to hackers. The report also warns that the trend is likely to increase in the future as hackers direct more of their attention to exchanges.
$1.3 Million Lost Every Day
Moscow-based cybersecurity company Group-IB has released a report on the hacker attacks against cryptocurrency exchanges in the last two years, indicating that $882 million have been lost in damages. If we break this down to a daily average, we’ll see that over $1.3 million are lost to hackers every day.
The most notable heist in the reported period is the attack against Japan’s Coincheck which resulted in $532 million worth of NEM tokens being stolen. The second largest hit was against Italian BitGrail which saw $170 million in NANO lost. Other successful attacks were also launched against Bithumb, EtherDelta, Zaif, and others alike.
Some of the busiest hacker groups which purportedly orchestrated these attacks include Lazarus, Cobalt, Silence, and MoneyTaker.
Things Are Unlikely to Get Better
Group-IB’s report also indicates that things are unlikely to get better in the near future. Just the opposite, the number of attacks “will rise.” The report reads:
In 2019, cryptocurrency exchanges will be a new target for the most aggressive hacker groups usually attacking banks. The number of targeted attacks on crypto exchanges will rise.
It’s also worth noting that cryptocurrency exchanges are not the only victim to cybercriminals. According to the report, another very disturbing finding outlined by the research is that over 10 percent of the money raised with initial coin offerings (ICOs) was stolen throughout the indicated time frame.
The study also finds that more than half of the funds stolen from ICO projects were linked to phishing attacks, hence urging everyone involved to be particularly vigilant. The study stated, “Attacks on ICOs will remain a threat for every project potentially able to attract investors.”
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