The year 2022 became a carnival for encryption hackers, with losses exceeding $3 billion

Despite many believing that the cryptocurrency market crashed in 2022, it remains a huge "digital ATM" for hackers. According to the latest data from a blockchain analytics firm, at least $718 million has been stolen just from October to date.

Even more shocking is that, so far this year, the total losses suffered by the encryption industry due to 125 hacker attacks have exceeded $3 billion. If this trend continues, 2022 is likely to become a record year for the total value of stolen crypto assets.

Analysis shows that the main attack targets of hackers have shifted from exchanges in 2019 to DeFi protocols in 2022. These protocols are typically deployed on public chains and use smart contracts, allowing investors to trade, lend, and borrow on a digital ledger without the involvement of centralized intermediaries.

Hackers exploit security vulnerabilities in the code and structure of the DeFi market to carry out attacks. Given that DeFi is one of the important ecosystems in the cryptocurrency industry, market participants have a responsibility to seek more effective security solutions.

It is worth noting that October has become the most active month for hackers in 2022. Among them, vulnerabilities in cross-chain bridges triggered a huge crisis, with 3 cross-chain bridges being attacked, resulting in nearly $600 million being stolen, accounting for 82% of the cryptocurrency losses this month and 64% of the annual losses. On October 12, a decentralized trading platform in the Solana ecosystem suffered a hacker attack, with losses reaching $115 million, bringing a huge impact to the cryptocurrency industry.

In the top ten cryptocurrency attacks of 2022, hackers stole a total of over $1.7 billion in funds. Cross-chain bridges became the highest targets for stolen funds, with one network being hacked for $540 million, another project for $325 million, and two other bridges for $190 million and $100 million, respectively. The most recent cross-chain bridge attack occurred on October 7, when an official bridge of a public blockchain was breached by hackers. According to an official statement, approximately $100 million could not be recovered, and the remaining funds have been frozen.

In addition, some hacker groups supported by certain countries have begun to target DeFi platforms. Earlier this year, analysis revealed that a hacker group associated with a certain country stole approximately $1 billion worth of encryption from DeFi protocols.

This series of events highlights the significant security challenges faced by the cryptocurrency industry, particularly in the DeFi sector. As hacker attacks continue to escalate, the entire industry urgently needs to strengthen security measures and enhance defense capabilities to protect investors' interests and maintain market stability.