According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, October 2022 is now the biggest month to witness hacking activities with roughly $718 million hacked already even as the month is yet halved.
Despite the fact that the month hasn’t even halfway passed, Chainalysis reported that hundreds of millions had been taken advantage of through 11 distinct hacks on decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
On October 11, there were four escapades worth roughly $122 million. Using a smart contract from the digital currency wallet Rabby Wallet, $1.89 million from the Ethereum bridge on the blockchain QANplatform, $2 million from TempleDAO, and a $118 million exploit on the Mango Markets in Solana, hackers stole $200,000 in cryptocurrency.
According to Chainalysis, 2021 was the biggest year for blockchain-based hacks ever in terms of both total values stolen and total hacks. However, at the current rate, 2022 might “certainly surpass” last year’s data since over $3 billion has been abused over 125 hacks.
In 2019, most attacks occurred on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, but as those organizations enhanced security, 90% of hacks occurred on DeFi protocols in 2022.
According to Chainalysis, cross-chain bridges are the most popular target for hackers, with three of these bridges being attacked this month accounting for 82% of October’s losses. The largest of these bridge hacks was an approximately $100 million exploit in the bridge between cryptocurrency exchange Binance’s BNB Smart Chain and Beacon Chain.
