Cryptocurrency companies are new in the market and handle a lot of sensitive information like client’s funds. Cryptocurrency payments are irreversible and not controlled by central authorities, which makes it easier for criminals to run away with stolen funds. Cryptocurrencies are new, and many people don’t understand how they work. This makes it easier for criminals to scam them. That’s why cybercrime involving cryptocurrencies is still a big problem.
In this article, the Atlas VPN team has listed the top notable cryptocurrency threat statistics and findings from last year.
Crypto hackers stole $2 billion in first half of 2022
Despite the cryptocurrency market decline, cryptocurrency project hacks are still happening. In the first half of 2022, cybercriminals stole $1.97 billion from 175 different cryptocurrency projects. More than $1 billion was stolen from Ethereum-related projects alone, and the Solana ecosystem was also badly affected, with hackers stealing $383.9 million from Solana-related projects.
In 2021, Crypto miners were the most-common malware family
There are many types of malware used for different attacking objectives. All malware is classified as malicious software. It can crack passwords, spread through networks, or disrupt the daily operations of organizations. The most widespread malware family was cryptominers in 2021.
Cryptominers have become popular among cybercriminals over the past year. Threat actors mine various crypto for profit using CPU and GPU resources of victims’ devices. Sometimes such malware can remain on the device unnoticed for months.
More than $12 billion in crypto stolen in the past decade
Even though the crypto industry’s technology has improved dramatically since the launch of Bitcoin in 2009, many cryptocurrency providers not yet developed effective security mechanisms that prevent hackers from exploiting vulnerabilities for personal benefit at the expense of the victims.
Research shows that over $12 billion worth of cryptocurrency has been stolen in the past 11 years. 40% was taken from fraudulent exchanges. The number of hacks related to Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is also increasing.
To learn more about the cryptocurrency threat landscape, read the full article here.
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