Start your day with intelligence. Get The OODA Daily Pulse.

Web3 Lost Over $890 Million to Hacks and Scams in Q3 2023

Beosin EagleEye platform, a subsidiary of Beosin, a blockchain security audit company, revealed in a research report that Web3 lost approximately $890 million to various security breaches, phishing scams, and rug pulls in the third quarter of 2023. Breaking down the losses, it was revealed that 43 separate hacker attacks led to a cumulative loss of around $540 million, while phishing scams resulted in an approximate loss of $66.15 million. Additionally, 81 incidents of rug pulls within projects led to a total loss of approximately $280 million. DeFi, or Decentralized Finance, remained the most frequently targeted sector, accounting for 67.4% of all incidents with 29 attacks reported. Amongst the various project types, public chains experienced the most substantial losses, with Ethereum alone accounting for $227 million. Ethereum also took the unfortunate lead in security incidents, tallying up 16 during the quarter. Examining attack methods, it was found that private key leaks were the most costly, causing losses of $223 million. Notably, a significant portion of the stolen funds, approximately $360 million, remained within the control of the hackers, representing a worrying 67% of the total. Efforts to recover stolen assets yielded limited success, with only 10% of the stolen funds retrieved during the quarter.

Full Beosin EagleEye report : Web3 Lost Over $890 Million to Hacks and Scams in Q3 2023.

While these are the largest cryptocurrency hacks that have happened in the third quarter of 2023, OODA has been compiling a comprehensive Web3 incident database based on our research to categorize what compromises are taking place as well as document the root causes that plague Cryptos, DeFi, NFTs, and Web3 in general. Tracking root causes provides comprehensive insights into how innovators can create robust cyber risk management approaches and reduce the potential for consequential attacks. You can access the OODA comprehensive Crypto Incident tracker here.