The crypto market continues to face security challenges, with 751 incidents in 2023 leading to a loss of $1.8 billion in assets. This figure, although significant, represents a 51% decrease from the $3.7 billion lost in 2022 due to hacks and other security breaches.
Data from blockchain security firm CertiK’s annual report, the Hack3d: Web3 Security Report 2023, highlights the state of Web3 security over the past year. The report, released on January 3rd, reveals the most substantial losses occurred in the third quarter, totaling over $686 million.
Seed phase data breaches continued to be the most costly attack vector, with 47 incidents in 2023 leading to losses exceeding $880 million. Ethereum‘s network experienced the highest losses, with 224 incidents amounting to $686 million, averaging $3 million per incident. In contrast, the BNB Chain recorded 387 security events but only $134 million in losses.
Interoperability between blockchains remains a challenge for the crypto industry, with security breaches affecting multiple networks resulting in nearly $800 million in losses. CertiK’s co-founder Ronghui Gu expressed optimism for 2023, noting the growth of bug bounty platforms and proactive security measures as positive developments.
Gu attributed the 51% reduction in losses partly to the broader bear market’s impact on token and treasury valuations. However, he believes that maintaining low losses during a bull run would demonstrate the Web3 industry’s learning and application of security lessons.