Orbit Bridge Hack Increases Losses in December Crypto Theft to $100 Million

Orbit’s cross-chain bridge, Orbit Bridge, which launched in South Korea in 2018, suffered a devastating hack exploitation on New Year’s Eve. This attack saw the exploiters carting away almost $82 million in crypto assets. 

Looks like orbit bridge is getting drained right now, different fresh wallets for wbtc usdt usdc and dai, test tx’s showup on orbit bridge scanner but bigger ones doesnt. Wallets bellow pic.twitter.com/zlUbT0HrO2

— Kgjr (clueless333) (@KGJRTG) December 31, 2023

The December 31 hack attack added to the number of crypto thefts in 2023, bringing the amount lost in December to nearly $100 million. 

PeckShield Exposes Losses Suffered in December 2023

As revealed by blockchain security company PeckShield on January 1, Orbit Chain lost $81.5 million to the bridge hack. According to the on-chain sleuth, this attack adds to the growing list of December 2023 hack events, moving the month to the fifth-highest month for negative crypto events. 

Also, the exploitation marks the ninth-highest hack for cross-chain bridges in the last three years. PeckShieldAlert says December 2023 saw 36 hacks, with approximately $99.3 million lost.

Sadly, Orbit Bridge got the lion’s share ($81.5 million) from this theft.

On January 1, Orbit confirmed the hack, citing an unauthorized access which happened on December 31, at 8:52 pm UTC precisely. The Orbit Chain team said they are on top of the matter, exploring ways to resolve the issue and recover user funds.

The group asked major global crypto exchanges to freeze the stolen assets as damage control. 

According to the January 1 X post, Orbit is collaborating with global security experts such as Theori to solve problems and track funds in real-time.

Meanwhile, law enforcement agents are working constantly to track the stolen assets and freeze them. Furthermore, Orbit Chain stated that they are still attempting to establish communication with the attackers and have delivered a second message to them. 

Hack Exploitation: A Major Concern in Crypto Landscape

#CertiKStatsAlert 🚨

We have updated our EOM December stats to reflect the Orbit Chain incident.

December saw a total of $116.5M lost

See more details below pic.twitter.com/I2XS4RtdvL

— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) January 1, 2024

Blockchain security firms Certik, PeckShield, and Beosin report that the total losses recorded from scams and breaches in 2023 ranged between $1.51 billion and $2 billion.

 September and November 2023 recorded the most devastating losses last year, with over $700 million lost in these two months.

Some major losses recorded include the Poloniex crypto exchange breach, which caused $131.4 million to be lost in November. Despite the losses, blockchain security firm Beosin noted that the rate of negative events reduced compared to 2022.

Remarkably, the total losses reduced from $4.38 billion recorded in 2022.

Also, Beosin reports that 68% of the 191 attacks recorded targeted DeFi projects. These events led to losses of up to $408 million. Diverse types of attacks were recorded in 2023 due to technological advancements.

These attacks include database compromise, supply chain attacks, and DNS attacks, among others.

Blockchain diversity increased in 2023 due to private key compromises on various centralized exchanges. Also, the BNB chain was the most exploited in 2023. Despite the best recovery efforts, 51.8% of the total stolen funds, approximately $723 million, remained in the possession of hackers.

While 267 rug pull events occurred in 2023, the rate still dropped by 8.7% compared to statistics from 2022. This attack saw the exploiters carting away almost $82 million in crypto assets. 

The December 31 hack attack added to the number of crypto thefts in 2023, bringing the amount lost in December to nearly $100 million. 

PeckShield Exposes Losses Suffered in December 2023

As revealed by blockchain security company PeckShield on January 1, Orbit Chain lost $81.5 million to the bridge hack. According to the on-chain sleuth, this attack adds to the growing list of December 2023 hack events, moving the month to the fifth-highest month for negative crypto events. 

Also, the exploitation marks the ninth-highest hack for cross-chain bridges in the last three years. PeckShieldAlert says December 2023 saw 36 hacks, with approximately $99.3 million lost.

Sadly, Orbit Bridge got the lion’s share ($81.5 million) from this theft. On January 1, Orbit confirmed the hack, citing an unauthorized access which happened on December 31, at 8:52 pm UTC precisely. 

The Orbit Chain team said they are on top of the matter, exploring ways to resolve the issue and recover user funds. The group asked major global crypto exchanges to freeze the stolen assets as damage control.

 According to the January 1 X post, Orbit is collaborating with global security experts such as Theori to solve problems and track funds in real-time.

Meanwhile, law enforcement agents are working constantly to track the stolen assets and freeze them. Furthermore, Orbit Chain stated that they are still attempting to establish communication with the attackers and have delivered a second message to them. 

Hack Exploitation: A Major Concern in Crypto Landscape

Blockchain security firms Certik, PeckShield, and Beosin report that the total losses recorded from scams and breaches in 2023 ranged between $1.51 billion and $2 billion. 

September and November 2023 recorded the most devastating losses last year, with over $700 million lost in these two months.

Some major losses recorded include the Poloniex crypto exchange breach, which caused $131.4 million to be lost in November. Despite the losses, blockchain security firm Beosin noted that the rate of negative events reduced compared to 2022.

Remarkably, the total losses reduced from $4.38 billion recorded in 2022.

Also, Beosin reports that 68% of the 191 attacks recorded targeted DeFi projects. These events led to losses of up to $408 million. Diverse types of attacks were recorded in 2023 due to technological advancements.

These attacks include database compromise, supply chain attacks, and DNS attacks, among others.

Blockchain diversity increased in 2023 due to private key compromises on various centralized exchanges.

Also, the BNB chain was the most exploited in 2023. Despite the best recovery efforts, 51.8% of the total stolen funds, approximately $723 million, remained in the possession of hackers. While 267 rug pull events occurred in 2023, the rate still dropped by 8.7% compared to statistics from 2022.     

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