Phishing Scams Top Crypto Security Threat of 2024 – CertiK
Blockchain security firm CertiK has warned crypto investors that the threat of phishing scams has emerged as the top security threat of 2024.
Crypto phishing attacks involve hackers sharing spoofed links with victims to steal sensitive information such as private keys to crypto wallets.
According to Certike's annual Web3 Security Report, published on January 2nd, phishing attacks will be the crypto industry's costliest attack vector in 2024, netting more than $1 billion worth of stolen digital assets in 296 cases.
“Phishing has been the most expensive attack vector in the past year,” a Certike spokesperson told Cointelegraph. “Our figures are conservative, when you take into account unreported incidents and other fishing scams such as pork butchering, the actual figure is higher.”
In the year At least three of the 296 phishing incidents in 2024 resulted in losses of more than $100 million, underscoring the scale of the damage.
In May, a trader lost $68 million worth of crypto in a single transaction due to address poisoning, which tricked victims into sending their digital assets to fraudsters' addresses.
Again, by good luck, the unknown assailant returned all the stolen money 10 days later.
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The private key encryption industry will spend more than $855 million by 2024.
Private key deals are the second biggest threat after phishing scams, resulting in over $855 million worth of stolen crypto in 65 cases in 2024.
A Certike spokesperson added: “Phishing tactics will certainly improve in 2025, especially as AI advances.
Despite the growing threat of crypto-phishing scams, the annual crypto hack rate is still down 52 percent, with $3.5 billion stolen by 2022, according to a CertiK report.
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Industry participants are already taking steps to prevent phishing attacks.
Anti-hack response team Security Alliance has received more than 900 hack-related tickets since Samsung was launched in August 2023 by white hat hacker and researcher Paradigm.
The world's largest exchange is also fighting against crypto fraudsters. Binance's security experts have developed an “antidote” to prevent the growing number of address poisoning scams.
Beyond phishing incidents, crypto hacking will cost the industry more than $2.3 billion in 2024, a 40% increase from last year, according to a report shared by onchain security firm Syvers, with hackers stealing $1.69 billion worth of crypto.
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