Everything you Need to Know About Blockchain Related Hacks

• Vikash Kumar Das
• November 11, 2020

This article will talk about Blockchain-related attacks, explaining how private Blockchains are desirable targets for hackers, and finally focusing on the declination rate of such attacks.

Table of Contents

• Overview 
• A Closer Look To Blockchain-based Hacks
• Private Blockchains: Desirable Targets for Hackers’ Attacks
• A Decline in Blockchain-related Hacks, says Report
• Concluding Lines 

Overview 

Blockchain’s advent has taken the world by storm, but Blockchains are vulnerable to hacking for the past few years. Although Bitcoin wallets are now more sophisticated to deal with hacking activities, hackers have also become savvier in performing such attacks. In the past few years, blockchain hacking indicates that it suffers from security issues. But here, it is essential to note that these hacks and attacks did not result from the vulnerabilities in the Blockchain itself, but from the ways it was implemented.

Undoubtedly, there are multiple reasons behind cryptocurrency’s popularity; lack of crypto literacy and unregulated market are the major concerns that are keeping adoption at bay. 

In the next section, let’s talk more about Blockchain and its security.

A Closer Look To Blockchain-based Hacks

A blockchain is a P2P decentralized distributed ledger technology that has a cryptographic database maintained by a network of computers. However, there have been numerous cases of blockchain hacks that have raised doubts regarding Blockchain’s security; there is a misconception prevailing for a long time that Blockchain is “unhackable.”

On June 13, 2011, allinvain, a member of the world’s first Bitcoin mining pool, reported on the Bitcointalk forum that his massive chunk of bitcoin balance was gone. It was reported that an attacker gained access and stole 25,000BTC, marking the first massive crypto heist in history.

Bitfinex, which is a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange, has also suffered from its own well-documented heists. On August 2, 2016, a crypto exchange reported a security breach in which 119,756 Bitcoins worth $72 million were stolen at the time.

Two years back, on January 26, 2018, a Japanese-based crypto exchange, Coincheck, known for record-breaking sums stolen, also suffered from an attack that resulted in the theft of customer deposits containing NEM as cryptocurrency worth around $530 million in total.

Private Blockchains: Desirable Targets for Hackers’ Attacks

As we already mentioned that when technology was initially introduced, it was recognized as ‘unhackable.’ But the recent attacks that we just looked at in the previous section indicate that Blockchains are vulnerable to attacks and hacks. Not only this, there has been a shift in focus from public networks to private/enterprise Blockchains. Compared to public networks, private networks are less vulnerable to hacks and attacks that does not mean they are invulnerable. The primary reason for such security issues is due to its under feverish development from the past few years. But now, since these Blockchains are rolling out for various usage, attacks on them might become more frequent than ever. Such Blockchains are vulnerable to attacks because of insider risk. Hackers see such networks as both a challenge to their skills and an opportunity for easy money.

A decline in Blockchain-related Hacks, says Report

According to the recent announcement, the number of blockchain attacks and hacks are decreasing throughout 2020. Atlas VPN, a VPN provider analysis, states that compared to 2019, hacks related to Blockchain in the first half of 2020 have dropped more than three times. The Report states that the year 2019 has been a record-breaking year in terms of hacking. There were 94 successful attacks in the first half of 2019, while there were only 31 attacks in the first six months of 2020, indicating a huge decline.

The Report also mentioned that hackers had stolen $13.6 billion from 2009 through 330 blockchain-related hacks.

Concluding Lines

When it comes to private blockchains, employees and other participating parties are invited to access all the confidential data that is stored there, and this needs to be changed in order to achieve security and prevent hacking. If you are running a private blockchain and want to learn about aspects of Blockchain security existing in the Blockchain environment today, Blockchain Council can be your one-stop destination.

A globally recognized online platform provides a complete understanding of Blockchain’s inherent security features and associated risk, in-depth knowledge of best security practices for Blockchain infrastructure, exploration of known Blockchain cyber-attacks. Moreover, the platform equips you with the ability to differentiate between Blockchain cyber-attacks and threats and the ability to transfer or mitigate Blockchain security risk. 

So why wait? Get started today!

To get instant updates about Blockchain Technology and to learn more about online Blockchain Certifications, check out Blockchain Council.