Crypto sector loses $88m in October amid rise in cybersecurity threats
Cyberattacks in crypto continue: $88.47M lost in October amid Radiant Capital’s $53M breach
Despite cryptocurrency’s appeal, cybersecurity remains a critical challenge. In October 2024 alone, the sector suffered losses of $88.47 million due to approximately 20 hacks, making it the second-lowest loss month this year after April, which saw $60.19 million in losses.
The report from cybersecurity firm PeckShieldAlert underscores the persistence of threats in the crypto space, with substantial amounts stolen despite increased security measures, reports Cryptopolitan.
Major Crypto Hacks in October
Radiant CapitalRadiant Capital was the hardest hit in October, suffering its second attack this year. The first incident saw hackers steal $4.5 million via a flash loan exploit, but the recent attack was significantly more severe, with $53 million drained from user wallets. Radiant reported that the attackers used advanced malware to exploit developers’ hardware wallets, resulting in this major breach.
U.S. Government Seizure FundThe U.S. government’s seizure fund also became a target, losing $2 million as funds were moved from a government wallet to an unknown address. Blockchain analysis by Arkham Intelligence revealed the suspicious transfer, though the attacker later returned approximately $19.3 million.
EigenLayer ProtocolEthereum’s EigenLayer protocol faced a $5.7 million exploit on October 4, which was later funneled through HitBTC and Bybit exchanges. The project reported “unapproved selling activity” as the reason for the losses and began investigating the flagged wallet address involved in the exploit.
Private Key Compromises and Social Engineering Attacks
Other attacks involved private key compromises and social engineering, notably affecting the Tapioca Foundation and Sunray Finance. Tapioca DAO lost $4.7 million when attackers gained control of a token vesting contract, allowing them to mint USDO tokens and drain $3 million from a Uniswap liquidity pool. The foundation later recovered 1,000 ETH (around $2.7 million) but still faced significant losses.
Sunray Finance suffered a similar fate, losing $2.86 million due to a private key compromise. The attacker upgraded a malicious smart contract on the Arbitrum chain, minting 200 trillion SUN tokens and swapping them for USDT.
Recentrly we wrote, that in 2024, the cryptocurrency industry suffered losses of $1.4 billion due to hacks and fraud.
