Last Updated on September 11, 2018
Hacks against individuals and organizations operating in the cryptocurrency space are undoubtedly becoming a big thing. A recent study from Kaspersky revealed that only in the second quarter of 2018 (Apr-Jun), Cybercriminals have been able to make $2.3 million via crypto phishing during Initial Coin Offerings (the initial sale of crowdfunded cryptocurrency from startups), with Ethereum being the preferred targets for miscreants.
This does not sound surprising at all, if we consider that, so far, there have been 772 ICOs raising nearly $19 billion: a too tempting opportunity for cyber criminals constantly looking for new sources of revenues. And even worse, Initial Coin Offerings are not the only opportunity: Crypto Exhanges as well as wallets of single individuals are a coveted target.
As a consequence, during this 2018, I have collected 18 major hacks in the crypto space so far, for a staggering total of $854,182,000 worth in tokens flown away. Actually 524M were stolen during a single incident, the hack occurred to Coincheck, nonetheless, after 7 months, the total has already surpassed (and nearly doubled) the bounty stolen in the 11 major hacks of 2017 ($472,461,000).
So if you are cryptocurrency investor who needs to be aware of the risks, or simply curious to have the details of the incidents occurred so far, I have pulled together some interactive charts with the main incidents of 2017 and 2018 (so far). After the charts, there is also a table collecting the details of the single incidents extracted from my timelines.
The chart of the events as a function of time and value shows an increasing density of events in the second half of 2018.
Picture 1: Major Crypto Hacks
As mentioned Coincheck leads the chart of the top 10 hacks for 2018, ahead of Bitgrail and Coinrail.
Picture 1: Major Crypto Hacks (2018)
NiceHash leads the chart for 2017 ($68M stolen), followed by Bithumb, Parity, and Tether. As you may notice, some companies have been hacked twice, meaning that some lessons are hard to learn. This is the case of Bithumb and Bitcoin Gold.
Picture 1: Major Crypto Hacks (2017)
And below there is the detailed table for all the hacks shown in Picture 1.
Interested in all the major hacks? Have a look at the timelines of the main Cyber Attacks in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and now 2018 (regularly updated… Hopefully!). And do not forget the Cyber Attack Statistics that are regularly published, and follow @paulsparrows on Twitter for the latest updates.
Last but not least, feel free to submit remarkable incidents that in your opinion deserve to be included in the timelines (and charts).
