The year 2023 was a turbulent one for the web3 sector, as cybercriminals exploited various vulnerabilities and loopholes to steal a staggering $429.7 million worth of crypto assets from users and platforms.
This is according to a comprehensive report by Certik, a leading blockchain security firm, that analyzed over 50 incidents of crypto hacks, scams, and exploits that occurred in 2023.
The report, titled “Hack3d: The Web3 Security Report 2023”, revealed that the majority of the losses were caused by smart contract exploits, which accounted for $145 million, or 34% of the total.
These exploits involved manipulating the logic or parameters of smart contracts to drain funds from protocols, often using flash loans or arbitrage bots.
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The second most common type of attack was phishing, which resulted in $94.5 million, or 22% of the total losses.
Phishing attacks involved tricking users into revealing their private keys or login credentials or redirecting them to fake websites that mimicked legitimate platforms.
The third most common type of attack was wallet compromise, which caused $83.5 million, or 19% of the total losses.
See also: Orbit Chain’s Cross-Chain Bridge Hacked for $81.5 Million
Summary of Hack3d: The Web3 Security Report 2023
- A total of $1,840,879,064 was lost across 751 security incidents in 2023.
- This represents a decline of 51% from 2022’s total of $3.7 billion and an average of $2.45 million per incident.
- November was the most costly month of the year, with $363,367,327 lost in 45 incidents.
- Q3 saw the most losses, at $686,558,472, from 183 hacks, scams, and exploits.
- Private key compromises were the most costly attack vector, with $880,892,924 lost in just 47 incidents. This represents nearly half of all financial losses, though private key compromises accounted for just 6.3% of all security incidents.
- BNB Chain experienced the highest number of security incidents, with a total of 387 hacks, scams, and exploits leading to $134 million in losses. This resulted in an average of $346,253 per incident.
- Ethereum saw a total of 224 incidents but $686 million in losses, for an average of $3.0 million per incident.
- Security breaches affecting multiple chains accounted for $799 million of losses in just 35 incidents, highlighting the persistent pain point that is cross-chain interoperability.
The official report was also made public on the homepage of Certik for all audiences to view. To access, go here.
