Cryptocurrency losses due to hacks and fraud soar to $750 million in Q3 – CertiK

According to CertiK's quarterly Hack3d Security Report, malicious actors stole more than $750 million in various cryptocurrency-related hacks and scams during the third quarter, bringing total annual losses to more than $1.9 billion. reached.

Losses occurred in 155 separate incidents, representing a 9.5% increase in stolen funds compared to the previous quarter. However, the number of incidents decreased by 27 compared to the second quarter.

According to the report, three major events accounted for most of the funds stolen during the quarter. Two of the biggest incidents were a $238 million phishing attack targeting Bitcoin whales and a $231 million hack of India-based centralized exchange WazirX. The third largest incident involved retail investors falling victim to a phishing scam that resulted in losses of $55.4 million.

Meanwhile, nine incidents resulted in approximately $30.9 million in recoveries, reducing the adjusted net loss for the quarter to approximately $722 million.

Phishing remains a concern

The most dominant attack methods used by malicious actors in the third quarter were phishing attacks and private key compromise.

Phishing alone caused losses of over $343 million in 65 cases. These scams typically involve attackers posing as trusted organizations and tricking victims into sharing sensitive information such as passwords.

Private key compromise ranked second, with more than $324 million lost in 10 incidents. In these scenarios, an attacker gains control of the private key and can transfer funds without requiring further authentication.

Other notable vulnerabilities included code flaws, reentrant bugs, price manipulation, and fundraising-related fraud.

Ethereum suffered the most losses

Ethereum had the most security breaches across blockchain networks, with 86 hacks and frauds resulting in over $387 million in losses. The Bitcoin network followed suit, with $238 million stolen in one phishing incident.

CertiK explained that the top two blockchain networks were the most targeted due to their “high transaction volume, large user base, and TVL.”

Meanwhile, multi-chain platforms also suffered significant losses of around $90 million, with other blockchain networks such as Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Cosmos, Scroll, Solana, Base, Blast, and Optimism accounting for the rest of the incidents. Ta.

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