Blockchain security firm PeckShield has confirmed that criminals stole $480 million through smart contract DeFi hacks in the first half of 2023. According to the firm, the three main decentralized finance (DeFi) attacks were logic bugs, oracle manipulation, and privilege exposure. Despite coming in at under half a million, DeFi criminal activity for the first half of the year fell about 75% compared to 2022. Last year, the proceeds from crypto hacks reached a whopping $2.5 billion. Ethereum, the blockchain with the highest total value-locked, was the blockchain criminals targeted the most, racking up $287 million in losses. Logic errors refer to mistakes the developer makes when coding a smart contract. These mistakes can be costly if hackers use them to redirect funds. Oracles are off-chain data sources that smart contracts use to make decisions. Oracle manipulation involves altering the quality and speed of incoming data to affect the decisions a smart contract makes. This year marked notable breakthroughs in reducing the funds lost to crypto crime. Earlier this month, Chainalysis confirmed that the flow of illicit funds to suspicious addresses dropped in the first half of the year.

Full report : Crypto Hackers Net Nearly $480 Million Year-to-Date.

While these are the largest cryptocurrency hacks that have happened in the first six months 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.