PeckShield’s 2023 Blockchain Security Insights

PeckShield reported a decline in damages from blockchain hacks and scams excluding multichain losses totaling $2.61 billion.

PeckShield, the blockchain security company has provided a data summary of the damages incurred due to hacks and scams in 2023. Excluding multichain losses, the corporation reported a loss of $2.61 billion for the year.

According to data that PeckShield published on January 29, the sum demonstrates a decline of 27.78% when compared to 2022, when the total amount of cyber thefts worldwide was approximately $3.6 billion.

The security company highlighted that they tracked over 600 large-scale attacks, resulting in the recovery of over $674 million, which accounted for 25% of the cryptocurrency that was taken.

The PeckShield team said that they recovered a significantly higher amount compared to 2022, when they anticipated only roughly $133 million in recovered funds from hacks. The amount recovered was significantly higher than in 2022.

As stated by the security team, the recovery of money was the consequence of increased discussions with hackers as well as the proliferation of bug bounty programs.

“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, another method that can lead to the recovery of cash is to work with centralized exchanges Tether and law enforcement to freeze the funds if they discover them.

PeckShield highlighted several data points including flash loans, decentralized finance (DeFi) and the volume difference between hacks and scams.

In addition to the amount recovered from hacks, PeckShield also highlighted additional data points. According to the research 40% of the cybersecurity breaches in 2023 involved attacks on flash loans.

Furthermore, despite the belief that security enhancements in DeFi resulted in a decrease in stolen cryptocurrency in 2023, PeckShield emphasized that DeFi remained a prime target for computer hacking and fraudulent schemes.

In an interview on January 4, Ronghui Gu, co-founder of CertiK stated that the year 2023 was a “positive development” in the field of blockchain security.

As a positive indicator for the year, the CEO emphasized the expanded use of bounty systems and the implementation of proactive security measures.

PeckShield emphasized the fact that 67% of the losses that occurred in 2023 occurred in decentralized finance, whereas 33% occurred in centralized finance.

It also highlighted that hacks were responsible for 58% of the losses, while scams were responsible for 42% of the losses. In addition, malicious actors have been expanding the types of cryptocurrencies they aim to exploit for their activities.

From 2018 to 2021, Bitcoin was the most popular cryptocurrency for illegal transactions in terms of trading volume. On the other hand, things began to change in 2022 and 2023 as stablecoins started to absorb a more significant portion of the volume of illegal transactions.