2022 is on course to be a record year for crypto hacking as a record amount of digital assets were stolen via crypto hacks in October. According to data from blockchain security firm PeckShield released on Monday, about $760 million worth of crypto value was looted by hackers and cybercriminals in 44 incidents that affected 53 protocols in October. However, some of the exploited protocols recovered $100 million, a fraction of that sum within the same period. PeckShield reported that $2.98 billion of crypto assets had been stolen in 2022, almost double $1.55 billion, the total value of crypto stolen in 2021, The biggest exploit of this ‘Hacktober’ was the BNB Chain hack which resulted in a loss of $586 million alone. Earlier in October, the BNB chain executed a hard fork to restore security after an unknown hacker stole $100 million via a vulnerability in the platform’s cross-chain bridge. Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (“CZ”) disclosed that hackers accessed a cross-chain bridge where users transfer digital assets from one blockchain to another. The hackers created 2 million BNB tokens out of thin air. The PeckShield report listed the Mango Markets Defi protocol as the second biggest loser in October. However, the exploiter agreed to return some of the funds. Related post: $117m stolen in Mango Market hack March had recorded the highest loss because oo crypto hacks before October, with around $710 million stolen. Most of this was due to the Ronin Bridge hack, which resulted in $625 million in crypto assets being pilfered. Causes of the hacks There are several causes for the high volume of crypto hacks in October. The leading causes include wallets compromised by profanity hacks, Blockchain bridge vulnerabilities, insecure smart contract codes, the unaccounted-for game theory behind protocol functionality, exploited cross-chain bridges, and oracle price manipulation. For the crypto lender, Mango Markets, the attacker, Avraham Eisenburg, claimed actions behind the exploit were legal after an oracle price manipulation. Following a community vote, an agreement was struck, and Eisenburg walked away with $47 million for his efforts, returning $67 million to the project. Some Decentralised autonomous organisations (DAO) lost $2.3 million because they relied on an insecure profanity-based wallet, a well-known attack vector among malicious actors. Team Finance was a victim too. Hackers took advantage of a bug in the Version 2 to Version 3 migration on the protocol to drain around $15.8 million in tokens from the platform. Also, a smart contract dedicated to UvToken, a multi-chain crypto wallet service’s staking functions, was hit by hackers who made off with $1.45 million in tokens that were then sent to sanctioned crypto mixer Tornado Cash. The vulnerabilities of DeFi With all its revolutionary principles, blockchain technology is still susceptible to cybercriminals who exploit it for their benefit. Many crypto projects get hacked, or scammers set up rug pulls to steal from investors. A sector of the ecosystem plagued significantly by this menace is Decentralised Finance (Defi) protocols that deploy software-based algorithms to enable crypto investors to trade, borrow and lend on digital ledgers without using a central intermediary. Read also: Here are 3 creative ways to earn cool cash on the Ethereum Blockchain DeFi platforms have now become a frequent target of state-sponsored hacking. Earlier this year, Chainalysis estimated that North Korea-affiliated groups had stolen around $1 billion worth of crypto assets from DeFi protocols. Predominantly, these hackers have now become adept at exploiting weaknesses in the security, coding and structure of DeFi marketplaces. This big concern is now putting the work on industry players to find solutions since DeFi is being touted as the future of finance and an integral part of crypto adoption. According to Sandi Bitenc, CEO of 3air and DeFi expert, the exploits in the sector are ...