Record-high DeFi-targeted cyberattacks predicted

Nearly $3.2 billion of digital assets have been stolen from decentralized finance cryptocurrency platforms last year, the highest on record, which may even be surpassed this year, with about $1.3 billion exfiltrated during the first quarter alone, according to BleepingComputer. DeFi platforms accounted for 97% of all stolen digital assets this year, compared with only 30% in 2020, a Chainalysis report showed. Researchers found that most threat actors targeting DeFi platforms have either used code exploits or breached the platforms to facilitate cryptocurrency theft. Flash loan attacks, which have accounted for most of DeFi attacks in 2020, have almost disappeared two years later after most protocols transitioned to decentralized price oracles, researchers said. Meanwhile, most stolen digital assets this year have been redirected to coin tumblers, or mixers, which could make cryptocurrency transactions anonymous by combining crypto with other users' and services' coins, and illegal exchanges. While 25% of all exfiltrated cryptocurrency from DeFi platforms have been given back to victims last year, no funds have been returned so far this year.