In 2024, a report from PeckShield indicated that despite a bull market in the cryptocurrency sector, security vulnerabilities surged, leading to losses exceeding 3 billion USD. Among these, hacker attacks accounted for 2.15 billion USD in losses, while scams caused 834.50 million USD in losses. Although the number of incidents has declined, the financial impact in the DeFi space remains significant. May was the month with the highest losses, reaching 662.20 million USD. Major theft incidents included DMM Bitcoin and PlayDapp, which lost 305 million USD and 290 million USD, respectively. However, efforts have recovered 488.50 million USD of the stolen assets. CertiK noted that losses in December fell to 28.60 million USD, the lowest for the year. Phishing attacks continue to be a major threat, with the CEO of Animoca Brands having their account hacked, resulting in a loss of 500 thousand USD. Phishing activities identified by SlowMist used fake Zoom links to steal cryptocurrency wallet information, leading to losses exceeding 1 million USD. Phishing activities discovered by CrowdStrike spread malware through fake job invitations, infecting victims' computers to mine Monero.

<p>PeckShield’s latest analysis reveals a troubling spike in crypto-related security breaches in 2024 alongside a bull market.</p><p>Despite the grim statistics, recovery efforts have managed to reclaim hundreds of millions in stolen assets.</p><h2>Crypto Losses in 2024</h2><p>PeckShield’s 2024 Crypto Security Annual Report reveals that the year witnessed a resurgence in crypto-related breaches, with total losses exceeding $3.01 billion. Of this, $2.15 billion stemmed from hacks, while $834.5 million resulted from scams, representing a 15% increase in losses compared to 2023.</p><p>Despite a decline in the number of incidents over the past three years, the financial impact remains significant, particularly in the DeFi sector, which continues to account for the majority of losses. The report highlighted that May was the worst month in 2024 as losses peaked at $662.2 million, followed by $440.8 million in January.</p><p>Among the top heists was the DMM Bitcoin breach, which resulted in a loss of $305 million, followed by the PlayDapp exploit with $290 million in loss. On a positive note, recovery efforts managed to reclaim $488.5 million of stolen assets.</p><p>Meanwhile, CertiK recently noted that December witnessed a significant drop in crypto-related losses to $28.6 million – the lowest monthly figure of the year. Exploits accounted for $26.7 million, with Gempad suffering the largest single loss at $2.14 million. Despite this decline, phishing scams remain a critical threat, with a top victim losing $7.87 million.</p><h2>Phishing Still A Concern</h2><p>For instance, hackers compromised Animoca Brands CEO Yat Siu’s X account, using it to push a fraudulent token and steal $500,000 from crypto users. Meanwhile, a phishing campaign uncovered by SlowMist used fake Zoom links to install malware that harvested crypto wallet details, causing losses of more than $1 million. Stolen funds were then traced to laundering activities on exchanges like Binance and Gate.io, with potential ties to Russian-speaking groups.</p><p>More recently, cybersecurity company CrowdStrike identified a phishing campaign in which attackers impersonate the company through fake job offer emails to infect victims with the Monero cryptocurrency miner XMRig.</p><p>The phishing emails direct job seekers to download a fake “employee CRM application” from a counterfeit CrowdStrike portal. Once installed, the malicious software performs checks to evade detection and then downloads and runs the XMRig miner in the background, using minimal system resources to avoid suspicion.</p>

In 2024, cryptocurrency security vulnerabilities surged, with losses exceeding 3 billion dollars.