The third quarter of 2023 was the “most financially damaging” quarter of the year, with nearly $700 million in digital assets lost due to various security incidents, according to blockchain security company CertiK’s quarterly report. .
In the report, CertiK highlighted 184 security incidents in July, August and September 2023, with more than $699 million in crypto assets lost in the quarter, surpassing the first quarter losses of $320 million and the second quarter losses. of 313 million dollars.
Among the exploits that caused losses, private key compromises have been ranked as the most damaging, costing more than $204 million across 14 incidents. According to the report, the Multichain incident, where the private keys were under the exclusive control of the project CEO, caused a loss of $125 million. The incident highlighted that centralized control of companies’ private keys could create a vulnerability that, in the case of Multichain, led to the cessation of its operations.
In addition to private key exploits, exit scams and oracle manipulation have also been prevalent in the quarter. The report highlighted that there were a total of 93 incidents of exit scams in the quarter, taking away more than $55 million in digital assets. Meanwhile, 38 incidents of Oracle manipulation took away more than $16 million in cryptocurrency.
Related: Exploits, hacks and scams stole nearly $1 billion in 2023: report
When it comes to crypto attacks, the Mixin Network cross-chain protocol exploit contributed the most to making September the month with the highest number of crypto attacks in 2023. On September 25, Mixin Network suspended all withdrawals and deposits after the incident. The company later confirmed that $200 million worth of assets were drained from its main network.
CertiK’s quarterly report also highlighted that North Korean state-affiliated hacking group Lazarus remained a “dominant threat actor” in the quarter. The report notes that the group was responsible for at least $291 million in confirmed losses in 2023 and continued its activities in the third quarter.
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