Phishing attacks and private key leaks resulted to the theft of over $750 million in the third quarter of the year according to a report by Certik.
Certik is one of the most trusted blockchain analytics firm in the industry and its quarterly report revealed that the industry lost $$753,094,610 in crypto assets stolen by malicious actors across 155 security incidents.
Phishing attacks and Private key leaks where in the driving seat of chief causes of this loss. The total value of money lost to bad actors in Q3 grew by 9.5% despite the quarter recording lesser number of security breaches.
This means that bad actors in the industry are getting much better in targeting large caches of crypto assets stealing more assets in lesser attempts.
The Q3 data from Certik elevates the total worth of crypto assets stolen by Bad actors in 2024 to over $2 billion with data showing $505.5 million lost across 224 attacks in Q1 and $687.5 million in Q2.
According to Certik’s data, Phishing attacks wrecked the most havoc in Q3 2024 accounting for a whopping $343.1 million in losses across 65 incidents.
Certik commented on the menace of Phishing and how it is used to lure victims into revealing their sensitive data.
“These attacks typically involve bad actors posing as legitimate entities to trick users into revealing sensitive information, such as login credentials.”, Certik stated.
Besides Phishing, the second leading cause for high theft of crypto assets in Q3 was Private Key compromises. Private key compromises accounted for $324.4 million in losses across 10 incidents.
Other additional causes of security threats in Q3 involved code vulnerabilities, reentrancy events, and price manipulation, emphasizing the urgent need for improved security protocols in the decentralized finance sector.
Ethereum remains the most targeted blockchain
Certik’s report revealed that Ethereum remained the most targeted blockchain ecosystem with $387.9 million stolen in 86 incidents. This places Ethereum ahead of Bitcoin which was also heavily targeted by hackers during the course of the year.
Bad actors and cyber attackers stole $89,838,491.98 in hacks across other chains that are not Bitcoin or Ethereum.
What to Know
- Private Key compromisation was the second biggest vector in crypto hacks in Q3 laying importance credence to responsible seed phrase practices to prevent losses. Your private key is the password to your crypto assets and it gives only you access to your assets. Careless handling or falling for social engineering gimmicks can lead to serious losses of assets as revealed in this Certik report.
- Certik is a blockchain analytics firm that focuses on Onchain security and documenting exploits in the industry.