Biggest year ever for crypto hacking – with North Korea the suspected culprit | Science & Tech News
According to a new study, 2022 is the year of the biggest ever crypto hack, with more than £3.2 billion stolen worldwide.
October alone brought in £629 million – the highest recorded in a month.
It helped the previous peak of 2021 of £2.7 billion, although the total number of hacks was down slightly.
The annual report by Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm that sees its data used by governments, banks and businesses worldwide, says the activity is largely driven by news bandits based in North Korea.
by Kim Jong Un the regime has been repeatedly accused hack cryptocurrency to make money and evade international sanctionseven use stolen digital assets to finance its rocket program.
In 2022, Chainalysis said hackers linked to Pyongyang – notably the crime syndicate Lazarus Group – stole an estimated £1.4 billion worth of crypto assets, breaking a record their own records.
Researchers previously associated the group with the modethough I don’t know if it’s part of a government operation or outsourced.
The amount of cryptocurrency that is believed to have been stolen is far greater than North Korea’s total annual exports, the latest figures from the Economic Complexity Observatory put at 115 million pounds for the year. 2020.
“It is not an exaggeration to say that crypto hacking is a sizable part of the national economy,” said Chainalysis.
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What is the main purpose of cryptocurrency?
Where is the money stolen from?
The biggest victims of crypto hacks in 2022 are in decentralized finance protocols, essentially when investors eliminate the middle man – like a bank or exchange – and move direct money between digital wallets.
It is becoming more and more popular as it is considered more transparent, which people are placing more value on when it comes to tracking. the collapse of major crypto platform FTX.
But according to Chainalysis, this so-called DeFi protocol accounted for 82.1% of the cryptocurrency stolen by hackers in 2022, totaling more than £2.5 billion.
David Schwed, of blockchain security firm Halborn, said DeFi developers shouldn’t be afraid to look to traditional centralized systems for inspiration to make them more secure.
“You don’t have to move as slow as the bank, but you can borrow from what the bank does,” he said.
Read more:
Cryptocurrencies ‘too dangerous’ to be unregulated
UK investors lose £1 million as FTX collapses
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‘Regulating Cryptocurrencies Before System Crash’
UK ‘incentive’ regulatory plans
The report comes as the UK government Revealing Proposals to Regulate Cryptocurrenciesas the market seeks to regain the confidence of investors spooked by a particularly volatile period.
According to the plans, which will bring the industry more in line with traditional financial systems, cryptocurrency platforms will be responsible for determining the requirements a currency must meet before being allowed to trade. .
Exchanges will also be responsible for safely facilitating transactions and keeping client assets safe.
Jordan Wain, UK public policy leader at Chainalysis, told Sky News the regulation was welcome.
“It is encouraging to see the theme of consumer protection highlighted through these plans, which demonstrate clear intent to address possible abuses,” he said.
But he warned that tougher rules must not harm the industry’s “innovation and growth potential”.
The proposals come less than a year after Rishi Sunak said he wanted the UK become a “global crypto-asset hub”will be out for consultation before it comes into effect.
