- Hackers stole hundreds of millions from the crypto industry in August.
- The funds were stolen in over ten security incidents.
- Phishing attacks accounted for the lion’s share of the stolen funds.
Malicious actors stole hundreds of millions in crypto in over ten security incidents in August, blockchain security firm PeckShield said on Sunday.
The development followed a July 5 report from TRM Labs indicating that crypto theft loss had topped $1.3 billion in the first half of 2024, up from the $657 million lost to hacks and exploits during the same period in 2023. This figure didn’t include WazirX’s $234 million hack on July 18, which claimed the second-largest crypto security incident of the year so far.
Crypto Theft Loss in August 2024
In an X (Twitter) post on September 1, PeckShield said the crypto industry witnessed over ten hacks in August, resulting in a total loss of about $313.86 million.
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Phishing attacks dominated the security incidents, accounting for the two largest hacks of the month. These led to a loss of $293.4 million, or 93.5% of the total stolen funds. This included a $238 million unauthorized Bitcoin transfer flagged by blockchain detective ZachXBT on August 19. Blockchain security firm SlowMist tied some of the 4,064 Bitcoins stolen in the incident to funds from Genesis Global Trading.
The other phishing attack stole $55.4 million in Dai stablecoins from a crypto whale. The attack seemed to have been executed using the dreaded Inferno Drainer. Per BlockSec, the attacker tricked the victim into signing a transaction that changed a Maker vault’s ownership, enabling them to mint the stolen tokens.
According to the post, the other three of the top five security incidents of the month involved Ronin’s $12 million hack, an unauthorized transfer of $5.1 million, and Nexera’s $1.83 million attack. However, Ronin, which had previously suffered a $600 million attack, managed to recover the stolen $12 million from the hacker.
Stay updated on how to protect your crypto from the AMOS malware:
How to Protect Your Crypto From The AMOS Malware for Mac
Read about a North Korean threat actor flagged by Microsoft for targeting crypto users:
Microsoft Flags North Korean Hacker Targeting Crypto Users on Chromium
