DeFi-Type Projects Had The Most Cyberattacks In 2022: Report

It is widely known that in 2022, the Web3 and DeFi industry suffered from several significant security breaches and attacks, resulting in over $2 billion in losses from incidents.

According to the Beosin Global Web3 Security Report 2022, DeFi projects were the most vulnerable to attack out of the 167 major security incidents recorded in the past year. DeFi projects were targeted 113 times in these incidents, representing approximately 67.6% of the total attacks.

The report states that, in order of occurrence, attacks on exchanges were followed by attacks on nonfungible token (NFT) projects, cross-chain bridges, and wallets. DeFi projects ranked second in terms of monetary losses. In addition, a total of $950 million was lost, while $1.89 billion was lost in cross-chain bridge exploits.

Overall, there was a 47.4% increase in the amount of funds lost due to security exploit-related incidents in 2022. However, totaling $3.6 billion, compared to the $2.4 billion lost in the previous year. DeFi projects should be aware that there may be an increased risk of exploits in the coming year.

Experts suggest that hackers are drawn to the DeFi space due to the high number of projects being launched. Due to the lack of security testing before going live and the valuable assets these projects hold.

Blockchain security companies are reminding users to manage their private keys properly. A significant portion of funds lost in 2023 due to private key compromise will result from poor management. Hackers stole $3.5 million in digital assets from a GMX whale on January 3, the first exploit incident of 2023.

Top 5 DeFi Hacks In 2022

The Ronin Validator Security Breach, which occurred on March 29, 2022, marked the largest DeFi vulnerability on record. The hacker was able to steal 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC from Ronin Bridge in just two transactions.

On August 10, 2021, a hacker exploited unverified proxy smart contracts on three different chains (ETH, BSC, and Polygon), resulting in a loss of $602.2 million.

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Furthermore, on February 2, 2022, a hacker exploited Solana’s security vulnerability in signature verification. Allowing them to mint 120,000 wETH and resulting in a loss of $326 million.

The Beanstalk attack occurred On April 18, 2022, resulting in the largest flash loan loss of $181 million. The attacker gained access to 350 million DAI, 500 million USDC, 150 million USDT, 32 million BEAN, and 11.6 million LUSD.

Moreover, On December 12, 2021, hackers drained $140 million from 96 wallets, including 4.5 million PYR tokens and ETH and MATIC.