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Cryptocurrency hackers and exploiters might be poised for a more successful year in 2024, potentially surpassing their achievements in 2023.

In the first quarter of 2024, hackers stole digital assets valued at $542.7 million, a 42% increase compared to the same period in 2023.

The primary reason for this is hackers continually shifting their attack vectors and looking for easier targets, according to Mriganka Pattnaik, co-founder and CEO of crypto risk and intelligence platform Merkle Science.

Pattnaik told Cointelegraph:

Phishing attacks involve hackers aiming to steal sensitive information like crypto wallet private keys. Other types of phishing attacks, known as address poisoning scams, aim to trick investors into willingly sending funds to a fraudulent address thatlooks similar to addresses they previously interacted with.

In May, a trader lost $71 million worth of cryptoin the years most high-profile phishing attack. The attacker tricked the trader into sending 99% of their funds to the attackers address.

But in a curious turn of events, the unknown thief returned the $71 million to the victim over a week later when the incident attracted the attention of blockchain investigation firms andthe attackers location was eventually established.

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Smart contract vulnerabilities used to be among the most targeted infrastructures by hackers.

However, according to Merkle Sciences 2024 Crypto HackHub Reportreport, hacked funds lost to smart contract vulnerabilities fell 92% to $179 million in 2023, down from a staggering $2.6 billion in 2022.

Private key leaks are currently the biggest concern, according to Pattnaik:

Over 55% of the hacked digital assets were lost to private key leaks during 2023.

The reason behind the decrease in smart contract exploits is more advanced security tools combined with hackers vying for easier targets, said Pattnaik:

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Cryptocurrency prices have appreciated significantly since the beginning of the year. According to CoinMarketCap data, the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies rose by 54% year-to-date.

Besides growing the potential bounty for exploiters, growing cryptocurrency prices are also attracting more hackers to the crypto space, according to Pattnaik:

Over $574 million worth of digital assets were lost across 30 individual crypto hacks during May 2024, representing a 666% month-over-month increase, according to a June 1 X post by PeckShield.

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Originally posted here:

Crypto hacks increase in 2024, but smart contracts not to blame - Cointelegraph