DeFi platforms become one of the most attacked sectors for 2022

April 26, 2022
DeFi Platforms CyberAttack 2022 Decentralized Finance Crypto Cryptocurrency Bitcoin

Several reports of cyberattacks targeting the cryptocurrency landscape have been emerging recently, with the Decentralized Finance or DeFi platforms being one of the most attacked. The platform suffered various attacks that caused it to lose massive funds through crypto scams.

Security analysts revealed that in 2021, there was over $3 billion worth of digital assets lost due to cyberattacks. For the first quarter of this year, there was already a $1.3 billion loss within the crypto sector, which means the threat actors are becoming more hostile.

 

It was discovered that most of the cryptocurrency assets lost to hackers are from DeFi platforms, with 97% of reports recorded under it and 3% being from exchanges.

 

Fortunately, at least 25% of stolen digital funds were returned to the victims last 2021. As for this year, there are no records yet of any funds reverted. DeFi protocols have also been exploited for money laundering, with a recorded 1,964% surge in rate.

The present detections of monetary loss due to cybercrimes in the DeFi platforms were caused by the exploitations of codes and flash loan attacks, compared to the previous reasons like security breaches. According to analysts, the DeFi platforms are not wholly decentralized since they need to hinge on open-source development models to be proved reliable.

Nonetheless, the attackers will take advantage to abuse a vulnerability they find before experts fix it.

Security experts and law enforcement authorities have warned people about the latest Lazarus APT campaign targeting the DeFi sector after they hacked and stole over $500 million from the platform. The threat group was also propagating trojanized DeFi wallet applications to launch malware.

Over the years, the progression of people’s lifestyles includes cryptocurrency usage becoming increasingly relevant. Hence, threat actors abuse this by targeting DeFi platforms and users to steal massive amounts of money and digital assets.

Despite experts and authorities coming together to research more about the crypto landscape and protect it, cybercriminals are also developing ways to upgrade and devise their techniques in spreading their crime.

As of now, security experts strongly recommend implementing code audits and employing strict measures to secure the DeFi platforms and the cryptocurrency landscape in general.

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