"Over $1bn in Cryptocurrency Lost to Web3 Cyber Incidents in 2024"

Security researchers at blockchain monitoring firm Certik recently discovered that more than $1.1bn worth of cryptocurrency has been lost from Web3 cybersecurity incidents in the first half of 2024.  The researchers noted that these losses occurred across 408 on-chain security incidents over the six-month period, making the average cost to victims per incident $2.9m.  The median loss was $230,784, highlighting the wide disparity between the losses suffered during individual attacks.  The researchers found that phishing was the most prevalent attack vector targeting Web3 users, making up 150 incidents and $497.7m in losses.  The researchers noted that private key compromises resulted in a particularly high rate of losses for victims, with 42 incidents resulting in $408.9m in losses.  The researchers said this highlights persistent vulnerabilities in key management.  The most common attack vectors for volume and financial losses were phishing, code vulnerabilities, private key compromises, exit scams, price manipulation, and access control.  According to the researchers, Ethereum was the most frequently targeted blockchain in H1 2024, with 222 incidents resulting in $315m in losses.  Bitcoin was only hit by one security incident in this period.  Other crypto blockchains heavily impacted by security incidents were Blast, with seven incidents resulting in $70.7m in losses, and Arbitrum, with 28 incidents and $31m in losses.

Infosecurity Magazine reports: "Over $1bn in Cryptocurrency Lost to Web3 Cyber Incidents in 2024"