Phishing scams have emerged as the primary security threat in the crypto industry for 2024, as reported by blockchain security firm CertiK. These scams, which involve hackers using fraudulent links to obtain sensitive information like crypto wallet private keys, resulted in over $1 billion in stolen digital assets through 296 incidents over the year. The report highlights that this figure could be conservative due to unreported cases and variations such as “pig butchering” scams.
A notable incident in May involved a trader losing $68 million in what is known as an address-poisoning scam. Surprisingly, the attacker returned the entire sum after ten days, likely due to the scrutiny and pressure from security firms.
Private key compromises stand as the second biggest concern, costing the industry more than $855 million across 65 incidents. Despite the severity of these phishing scams, overall crypto hacks saw a significant decline compared to 2022, dropping 52% from $3.5 billion.
The industry is actively fighting back. The Security Alliance, along with Paradigm researcher Samczsun, has attended to over 900 hack-related issues since August 2023. Moreover, Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has developed solutions to counter address poisoning scams.
Beyond phishing, crypto hacks in 2024 alone resulted in over $2.3 billion in losses, marking a 40% rise from the previous year. With phishing tactics expected to evolve, particularly with advances in AI, the need for robust security measures remains critical.
