Blockchain flow analysis specialist Chainalysis estimates the loot amassed in 2023 by cybercriminals in cryptocurrency thefts to be around $1.7 billion, according to the company’s latest report. This is much less than in 2022, a year which resulted in thefts amounting to $3.7 billion, a drop of around 55%.
However, it is difficult to precisely identify the reasons for this decline. It could be due to better IT protection for decentralized finance players or simply be a consequence of less activity in the sector, thus reducing potential targets for hackers. “It is most likely a mixture of the two,” summarizes Chainalysis cautiously.
Historical vulnerabilities
The company notes, however, that some of these thefts, those against a decentralized finance platform, are also on the downward slope, with loot amounting to around $1.1 billion stolen. Improving IT security “is a key factor” in reducing this type of hack, estimates Mar Gimenez-Aguilar, in charge of security at Halborn, a company specializing in blockchain cybersecurity. “Historically, the majority of these hacks were due to vulnerabilities in the design and implementation of smart contracts,” he emphasizes.
There is also a recent example of this kind in France. Two French people were thus prosecuted for siphoning off funds from the decentralized finance platform Platypus in February 2023. But they were acquitted a few months later by the Paris Criminal Court. The court considered that the maneuvers of the main suspect could not be assimilated to fraud or theft, pointing on the contrary to a smart contract poorly coded by the platform.
North Korea still blamed
Like last year, the murky role of North Korea is singled out by Chainalysis. According to the company’s data, the Pyongyang regime managed to steal around a billion dollars in twenty hacks, or around 60% of the total amount of detected thefts. Last year, North Korea stole around $1.7 billion in fifteen hacks. Most of the thefts attributed to North Korea targeted decentralized platforms or exchangers.
If the total value of cryptocurrency thefts has decreased, the number of computer hacks detected is increasing, from 219 in 2022 to 231 in 2023. Last year, several hacks of decentralized platforms hit the headlines. Like that of Mixin Network, in September, which resulted in a loss of around 200 million dollars after being the victim of an attack directed against its supplier, or that of the crypto exchange platform Poloniex, siphoned off at to the tune of $130 million the following month.