October 2022 is the month of the highest hacker activity in history. During two incomplete weeks, cybercriminals performed 11 different hacks and stole $718 million in crypto.
Analysts at Chainalysis tweeted that the number and quality of hacks this month could make 2022 “the biggest year for hacking.” About a quarter of all attacks this year occurred in October.
The number of hacks rose to 125 this year, while the amount of stolen money reached $3 billion. Hacks of the Mango Markets exchange and the BSC Token Hub cross-chain bridge on Binance were the largest attacks in October, each of which was successful and brought over $100 million to hackers.
Chainalysis analysts also emphasize that different cross-chain bridges made 82% of October losses. Hackers managed to break into three bridges and steal about $600 million just in half a month. Such high figures account for 64% of losses in 2022. Moreover, according to Chainalysis, hackers succeeded in withdrawing about $2 billion from cross-chain bridges by August this year.
DeFi protocols remain the key targets of cybercriminals this year, and attacks on them are more frequent, though they’re less profitable.
