Crypto exchange Upbit was targeted by hackers 159K times in H1: Report
South Korean cryptocurrency exchange AppBit was targeted by hackers more than 159,000 times in the first half of 2023, according to the agency.
The figures were reported by South Korea's Yonhap news agency on Oct. 9, according to Dunamu – the company that owns and operates Appbit – and told South Korean representative Park Seong-jung of the People's Power Party.
The report shows a 117 percent increase from the first half of 2022 and a 1,800 percent increase from the first half of 2020.
Apbit is one of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, with a 24-hour trading volume of around $1.2 billion, according to CoinGecko. Other major exchanges include Bithumb, Coinone and Gopax.
To prevent hacking attempts and strengthen security, Dunamu Upbit has increased the amount of money in cold wallets to 70%. Also, Upbit has added security measures for funds held in hot wallets.
Hot wallets get lost more often than cold wallets because their private keys are stored online, unlike in the past where the keys are stored offline on external hard drives and USBs.
Apbit suffered a $50 million exploit in 2019. However, Apbit has not suffered any security breaches since then, a Dunamu spokesperson told Yonhap.
In the year After the hacking incident in 2019, we have taken various measures to prevent it from happening again, such as distributing hot wallets and using them, and to date there has not been a single cyber breach.
However, Apbit had to stop Aptos token services in late September after the platform was unable to detect a fake token called “ClaimAPTGift.com” that reached 400,000 Aptos (APT) wallets.
1/ Crypto deposit security thread
Today's Upbit event highlights an important aspect that is often overlooked – the security of crypto deposits. While there is a lot of discussion around private key management and withdrawal security, deposit slips have a similar vulnerability. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/5NEAyJB63N
— Nass Eddequiouaq (@nassyweazy) September 25, 2023
Seong-jung acknowledged that cryptocurrency scams are on the rise across the board, but called on the South Korean government to take more action.
“The Ministry of Science and Technology should conduct large-scale mock tests and investigate information security conditions to prepare for frequent cyber attacks on virtual asset exchanges.”
“The role of the Ministry of Science and ICT in managing and controlling them is ambiguous,” Seong-jung added.
Cointelegraph reached out to Upbit for comment and did not receive an immediate response.
RELATED: CoinEx currency shed $27M worth of crypto in suspected hack
Meanwhile, crypto exchanges are targeted in a series of attacks in September.
Hong Kong-based exchange CoinEx suffered a $70 million hack in September after one of the company's private keys was compromised. The company said it would compensate affected users for any lost money.
In a separate attack, the Huobi Global HTX exchange lost $7.9 million in an exploit on September 24.
Magazine: $3.4B Bitcoin in a Popcorn Can – The Story of a Silk Road Hacker
