According to Cointelegraph, blockchain security firm CertiK has highlighted the increasing danger of phishing scams targeting crypto investors, marking them as the most significant security threat of 2024. These attacks involve hackers distributing fraudulent links to deceive victims into revealing sensitive information, such as private keys to their crypto wallets.
CertiK's annual Web3 security report, released on January 2, reveals that phishing attacks were the most financially damaging for the crypto industry in 2024, resulting in over $1 billion in stolen digital assets across 296 incidents. A CertiK spokesperson noted that these figures are conservative, as many incidents go unreported, and other phishing scams, like pig butchering, are not fully accounted for. Among the 296 incidents, at least three resulted in losses exceeding $100 million, underscoring the potential scale of damage from a single event.
In May 2024, a trader lost $68 million in a single transaction due to an address-poisoning incident, where victims are tricked into sending assets to fraudulent addresses. Fortunately, the attacker returned the stolen funds after 10 days, likely due to pressure from increased scrutiny by blockchain security firms. Private key compromises were the second-largest threat, with over $855 million worth of crypto stolen across 65 incidents in 2024. CertiK anticipates that phishing tactics will evolve in 2025, particularly with advancements in AI.
Despite the growing threat of phishing scams, the total value of crypto hacks in 2024 decreased by 52% compared to the $3.5 billion stolen in 2022. Industry participants are actively working to combat phishing attacks. The Security Alliance, an anti-hack response team led by white hat hacker and Paradigm researcher Samczsun, has received over 900 hack-related tickets since its launch in August 2023. Additionally, Binance's security experts have developed a solution to address the increasing instances of address poisoning scams.
Beyond phishing, crypto hacks cost the industry over $2.3 billion in 2024, a 40% increase from the $1.69 billion stolen in the previous year, as reported by onchain security firm Cyvers. The ongoing efforts by industry players aim to mitigate these threats and protect the crypto ecosystem from further losses.