Hacker attacks on cryptocurrency platforms increased by 60% - this figure will continue to grow

Researchers at Chainalysis have published a report that shows that since the beginning of 2022, cybercriminals have managed to steal cryptocurrency worth $ 2 billion, an increase of 60% in 7 months and, according to experts, will continue to grow.

In most cases, hackers attacked decentralized platforms (DEX), as they are not regulated by state financial institutions, so it will be more difficult to punish cybercriminals in this case. According to experts, the statistics of such attacks has increased significantly compared to the previous year, with fraudsters stealing about $ 1.2 billion in 2021.

The cryptocurrency community should not expect a decrease in the number of cyberattacks, according to Chainalysis analysts, the statistics will only get worse. It is worth noting that the vast majority of hacker attacks are carried out not by individual fraudsters, but by criminal groups — for example, there is a group of North Korean hackers called Lazarus. The Lazarus Group is known for cyberattacks on inter-chain bridges, and their illegal earnings are estimated at $ 2 billion (the group is believed to be behind the attack on the Ronin Bridge, which runs the popular Axie Infinity game).

Interestingly, it was Chainalysis researchers who managed to return some of the cryptocurrencies stolen by hackers from North Korea to Axie Infinity. Investigators managed to find and return digital assets worth $ 30 million. Crypto detectives intercepted the funds when the attackers transferred them to an exchange and wanted to exchange them for fiat currency. Earlier, Lazarus Group hackers used the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer to launder stolen funds. Apparently, the hackers did not have time to launder all $ 625 million before Tornado Cash was blocked and are now looking for other ways to launder money. However, as it turned out, not very successfully.