About $2bn worth of cryptocurrency has been stolen across 13 separate cross-chain bridge hacks according to a report by Chainalysis.
The blockchain analytics firm stated that the majority of the $2bn had been stolen this year with attacks on bridges accounting for 69 per cent of total funds stolen in 2022 so far. It added that the theft represents a major threat to trust in blockchain technology.
It said, “As more value flows through cross-chain bridges, they become more attractive victims for hackers. Even more troubling is that bridges are now a top target for North Korean-linked hackers, who — according to our estimates — have stolen approximately $1bn worth of cryptocurrency so far this year, entirely from bridges and other DeFi protocols.
“For perspective, South Korea’s government-run statistical agency estimates the country earned $89m from official exports in 2020. The good news is that these services can take steps to protect themselves. And in the event of a hack, they can leverage the transparency of blockchain technology to investigate the flow of funds and ideally prevent attackers from cashing out their ill-gotten gains.”
The firm explained that cross-chain bridges were designed to solve the challenge of interoperability between different blockchains.
According to it, a cross-chain bridge is a protocol that lets a user port digital asset from one blockchain to another. It said these bridges are an attractive target because they often feature a central storage point of funds that back the ‘bridged’ assets on the receiving blockchain.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: theeditor[at]punchng.com
