PeckShield, a blockchain security company, has released statistics that summarizes the losses incurred in 2023 from scams and breaches.Excluding multichain losses, the corporation reports that it lost $2.61 billion in the fiscal year.PeckShield said on January 29 that the sum is down 27.78% from 2022, when worldwide cyber thefts were estimated to be about $3.6 billion.
The security company also stated that, out of the more than 600 large-scale attacks they investigated, roughly $674 million, or 25% of the cryptocurrency that was taken, was returned.The PeckShield team noted in a statement to Cointelegraph that the sum recovered had increased dramatically from 2022, when it had only anticipated that roughly $133 million had been recovered from hacks.The security team stated that increased activity in discussions with hackers and the growth of bug bounty programs were the reasons behind the monies being recovered.
“Engaging in active negotiations with hackers can lead to the return of stolen funds. […] Implementing bug bounty programs or on-chain sleuthing to identify hackers and vulnerabilities in the system can enhance security.”
According to PeckShield, fund recovery can also result from working with Tether, centralized exchanges, and law enforcement to freeze funds as soon as they are discovered.
PeckShield emphasized a number of data elements in addition to the amount recovered from hackers, such as flash loans, decentralized finance (DeFi), and the volume difference between scams and hacks.According to the report, 40% of breaches that occurred in 2023 involved flash loan attacks.Furthermore, PeckShield emphasized that DeFi remained a top target for hacks and scams, despite some claims that security upgrades to the platform resulted in a decrease in the quantity of cryptocurrency taken in 2023.2023 will mark a “positive development” in blockchain security, according to Ronghui Gu, co-founder of CertiK, who spoke with Cointelegraph on January 4.The executive cited the expansion of reward systems and proactive security protocols as positive indicators for the upcoming year.
In spite of this, PeckShield pointed out that 33% of losses in 2023 occurred in centralized finance, while 67% of losses occurred in DeFi.It further emphasized that 42% of the losses came from frauds, and 58% came from cyberattacks.
Additionally, malicious actors have been expanding the range of cryptocurrencies they target with their operations.The amount of trade for unlawful transactions was dominated by Bitcoin between 2018 and 2021.But as stablecoins started to absorb a bigger share of the volume of unlawful transactions, things started to change in 2022 and 2023.