Damage from cyberattacks on crypto services in the third quarter was estimated at $640 million

Damage from cyberattacks on cryptocurrency services in the third quarter amounted to $640 million
Increased hacker activity was observed in September, which can be attributed to the general growth of business activity in the crypto market

The total damage from hacker attacks on crypto services in the third quarter of 2023 amounted to $640 million, which is almost twice as much as in the previous quarter, according to a study by the SHARD cryptocurrency asset security service, which was reviewed by the editorial board of RBC-Crypto.

Hacker attacks in the study mean "hacking, unauthorized penetration into the infrastructure of a crypto service, using various vulnerabilities in its contracts and code, as well as obtaining the service's private keys." At the same time, hacks are considered only of the services themselves, and not wallets or accounts of individuals.

According to the authors of the study, the number of hacker attacks decreased significantly in the third quarter (25 major attacks per quarter compared to 120 in the first half of the year), but the volume of stolen funds almost doubled ($640 million in the third quarter, $600 million in the first half of the year). In particular, there is an increase in the activity of hackers in September, which can be attributed to the general growth of business activity in the crypto market.

Decentralized services are the predominant target of hacker attacks (62.9% of all attacks). In addition, the number of hacks of payment services increased significantly (12.5%), and bridges practically ceased to be the targets of hacker attacks (0.85%). The study also notes that attackers most often steal funds on the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain networks.

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According to experts, since the beginning of the year, the trend of hackers returning stolen funds has continued: "Often, the affected crypto service posts on its official page on social networks or sends hackers a test transaction with an offer to return the stolen funds in exchange for a small reward and that the victims will not transfer data about the thief to law enforcement agencies."

In conclusion, the authors of the study write that hacker attacks that have been going on for a long time testify, first of all, to the inability and unwillingness of crypto services to provide an adequate level of security.

Earlier, PeckShield estimated the value of cryptocurrencies stolen by hackers since the beginning of 2023 at more than $1.15 billion, with almost a third of these losses occurring in September - more than $355 million.