According to CryptoPotato, CertiK's latest report reveals a significant decline in cryptocurrency security incidents in 2023. Total losses amounted to $1.84 billion across 751 events, marking a 51% decrease from 2022. Each incident averaged $2.45 million in losses, with the top ten contributing $1.11 billion. The median loss per incident was $101,132. November saw the highest amount lost at $363,367,327 from 45 incidents, while Q3 dominated with $686,558,472 losses from 183 hacks, scams, and exploits.
Private key compromises accounted for nearly 50% of total losses, amounting to $880 million. CertiK's report found that these numbers stemmed from just 47 incidents, representing only 6.3% of total security incidents throughout the year, yet over half of the losses. Six of the ten most costly security incidents in 2023 were due to private key compromises. The compromise of Multichain in July caused a loss of $125 million. Despite asserting decentralization, it was disclosed that Multichain's CEO had exclusive control over its multi-party computation servers and private keys. The vulnerability came to light with the CEO's arrest, rendering $1.5 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL) on the Multichain bridge inaccessible to users.
CertiK has informed users to implement certain private key management practices, which include employing multi-signature wallets, opting for hardware wallets, storing private key backups offline, defining strict access policies, safeguarding private keys with strong encryption, regularly auditing and monitoring key use, utilizing cold wallets, educating relevant staff on key management best practices, considering Multi-Party Computation (MPC) for secure key sharing, and leveraging professional key management services. Ethereum emerged as the leader in losses, experiencing losses totaling $686 million, spanning 224 incidents, averaging around $3 million per occurrence. In contrast, BNB Chain, despite encountering 387 security incidents, reported significantly lower losses at $134 million. The challenge of cross-chain interoperability continues to be a significant concern within the crypto industry, with security breaches impacting multiple blockchains resulting in losses of $799 million.
