Cyberspace has become an increasingly complex terrain for cryptocurrencies, and the year 2023 left an indelible mark on the industry, including on New Year’s Eve, when Orbit Bridge suffered a cyberattack.
The security of digital finances was repeatedly challenged, with hacks, scams and exploits resulting in losses ranging between $1.51 billion and $2 billion, according to estimates by blockchain security companies such as PeckShield, CertiK and Beosin.
One of the most recent incidents that contributed to these alarming statistics was the attack on Orbit Chain’s Orbit Bridge.
0/ On December 31, 2023, at 9:07:59 PM UTC, an unauthorized transaction was detected in the @Orbit_Chain Ethereum L1 Vault, involving assets like DAI, USDC, USDT, ETH, WBTC. We are actively investigating this issue. pic.twitter.com/fKUi7bdHyk
— ChainLight (@ChainLight_io) January 1, 2024
This exploit in the interchain bridge resulted in the disappearance of $81.5 million, raising the losses in December 2023 to almost $100 million.
Orbit Chain team has developed a system for investigation support and cause analysis with the Korean National Police Agency and KISA (Korea Internet & Security Agency), enabling a more proactive and comprehensive investigation approach.
Furthermore, we are also discussing close…
— Orbit Chain (@Orbit_Chain) January 2, 2024
PeckShield reported that this event marked the fifth-highest hacking month of the year and was the ninth largest attack targeting an interchain bridge in the past three years.
The constant coming and going of vulnerabilities in the security of cryptocurrencies became evident throughout the year.
September and November stood out as particularly devastating months, with losses exceeding $700 million in that period, according to data provided by PeckShield.
In addition to the Orbit Chain incident, other notable attacks will shape the cryptocurrency landscape in 2023.
Euler Finance suffered a $197 million exploit in March, while Multichain was the victim of a $125 million hack in July.
Despite considerable losses like Orbit’s, there was hope in the midst of the storm
According to Beosin, total losses from hacks, phishing scams, and rug pulls decreased significantly compared to the previous year, going from around $4.38 billion in 2022 to $1.4 billion in 2023, marking a 61.2% reduction.
The challenge to security in the world of cryptocurrencies remains a hot topic, and the need to improve security measures becomes more pressing as time progresses.
