Increased Risk of Phishing Identified by CertiK's Alert
In the dynamic world of cryptocurrency, the year 2024 saw a significant increase in security breaches, affecting various sectors such as DeFi, CeFi platforms, gaming, and metaverses. The total losses across all incidents amounted to $2.36B, marking a 31.61% increase from the previous year.
The 2024 Hack3d Report by CertiK predicts that phishing and scam incidents will continue to be a significant part of crypto security breaches in 2025. The report highlights that in just the second quarter of 2025, 144 hacking or scam incidents occurred, contributing to a year-to-date total of 344 incidents, resulting in billions of dollars lost to security breaches, scams, and exploits.
Phishing was the most costly attack vector in 2024, with the real tally likely being higher when unreported incidents and similar scams are taken into account. The May 2024 attack on DMM Bitcoin, a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, resulted in the loss of 4,502 BTC (then worth $320 million), making it the country's second-largest loss after the Coincheck breach.
The report also emphasises the increasing role of advanced AI tools combined with formal verification in enhancing crypto security. These AI-powered tools help monitor live contracts and detect suspicious behaviours early, which is crucial in spotting and mitigating phishing attacks and other exploits in real time. The emphasis for 2025 is on adopting more innovative, AI-driven security audits to keep pace with evolving threats, indicating that phishing attacks will likely become more sophisticated, requiring advanced detection mechanisms.
North Korean hackers stole at least $1.34 billion worth of crypto assets in 2024, according to Chainalysis. However, the nature or specific targets of these attacks were not disclosed. Critical code vulnerabilities remain a concern in the Web3 ecosystem, with 78% of cases in the past year stemming from access control vulnerabilities.
The 2024 Hack3d Report provides insights that shaped the year and offers insights on what's next. DMM Bitcoin announced liquidation in December 2024. Phishing tactics are expected to evolve in 2025, potentially with the use of artificial intelligence, according to a representative of CertiK. The information about the DMM Bitcoin attack and the expected evolution of phishing tactics was provided by a representative of CertiK to Cointelegraph. The release date for the 2024 Hack3d Report was not specified. Total Web3-market losses in the past year, as calculated by Hacken, exceeded $2.9 billion.
The 2025 Hack3d Report by CertiK anticipates an escalation of phishing and scam incidents due to the potential use of artificial intelligence by malicious actors. In 2024, a notable phishing attack on DMM Bitcoin led to a loss of 4,502 BTC, valued at $320 million at the time.
