North Korean Hackers Stole $1.7B in Crypto: Chainalysis

• According to Chainalysis, North Korean hackers stole $1.7 billion worth of crypto in 2022.
•DeFi protocols were the biggest victims, accounting for 82% of all digital assets stolen.
•March and October had the most activity from hackers, with 32 separate attacks occurring in October alone.

Cryptocurrency Theft In 2022

Chainalysis released a report that reveals the cryptocurrency theft that occurred during the year 2022. It shared that an estimated $3.8 billion was stolen from cryptocurrency businesses, with decentralized finance (DeFi) being the primary target for hackers.

Targeting DeFi

Out of all cryptocurrency assets stolen by hackers, DeFi protocols accounted for 82.1%. The figure is up from 73.3% in 2021 which means it was significantly targeted by hackers this past year due to its smart contracts functioning as large centralized repositories of funds backing assets bridged to a new chain.

Activity From North Korea-Linked Hackers

North Korea-linked hackers including Lazarus Group reportedly broke their own records and stole more than ever before this past year – specifically $1.7 billion worth of crypto according to Chainalysis‘ report. Most of these hacks were done through cross-chain bridge protocols where any errors in underlying code or other weak spots are inevitably found and exploited by malicious actors if it becomes big enough .

Record Breaking Month Of October

The month of October saw huge spikes when it came to cryptocurrency theft with a whopping amount of $775 million stolen – making it the single biggest month for crypto hacking ever with 32 separate attacks taking place within it alone!

Conclusion

It’s clear that there has been an increase in cybercrimes targeting cryptocurrencies over the past few years and unfortunately 2022 has seen some record breaking hacks take place involving North Korean linked groups and DeFI protocols alike.. It’s imperative that projects take extra caution when trying to secure their digital assets so they don’t become easy targets for malicious actors going forward into future years!