Upbit Faces Over 159,000 Hacking Attempts in 2023; Urgent Call for Enhanced Cybersecurity Measures
Summary:
In the first half of 2023, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit experienced over 159,000 attempted hacks, a 117% increase from 2022, and an 1800% increase since 2020. The exchange mitigated these attempts by storing 70% of its funds in more secure cold wallets. Despite a $50 million breach in 2019, no successful breaches have occurred since due to improved security measures. However, the platform had to stop Aptos token services after a fake token infiltrated 400,000 wallets. Amid the increasing cryptocurrency hacks, a government official has called for better security measures.
In the first half of 2023, cybercriminals have launched over 159,000 attacks on the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, as disclosed by the entity overseeing its operations. The revelation was made by Dunamu, the operation control firm, to Representative Park Seong-jung of the People Power Party, in a news report by Yonhap News Agency of South Korea on October 9th. These recent figures represent a 117% surge from the initial half of 2022 and a startling 1800% rise from the initial half of 2020. With a daily trading volume approximating $1.2 billion, as per CoinGecko, Upbit is among the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, jostling with Bithumb, Coinone, and Gopax for the top spot. In attempts to mitigate the proliferation of security infringement attempts, Dunamu has announced that Upbit has expanded the amount of its funds held in cold wallets, improving security to cover about 70% of holdings. Measures have also been intensified for funds in hot wallets. Hot wallets are more likely to be compromised than cold wallets as they store private keys online, unlike cold wallets that store them on external hardware devices like hard drives and flash drives. A security breach in 2019 caused Upbit a loss of $50 million. Since this incident, a representative from Dunamu has reassured Yonhap that the firm has not faced any security breach thanks to the preventative measures put in place, such as organized hot wallet operations. However, Upbit had to discontinue Aptos token services in late September due to failure in identifying a fake token, "ClaimAPTGift.com," that became distributed in 400,000 Aptos wallets. In light of the increasing number of cyberattacks on cryptocurrency, Seong-jung has urged the South Korean government to take more action, suggesting large-scale investigation into the information's security status in response to the regular cyberattacks targeted at virtual asset exchanges. He criticized the Ministry of Science and ICT's management and supervisory role as unclear. No response has been received from Upbit on Cointelegraph's request for comments related to the report. September has also witnessed a series of cyberattacks on several crypto exchanges. CoinEx, a Hong Kong-based exchange, suffered a $70 million hack following the compromising of one of their private keys. CoinEx has committed to reimbursing the affected users. In a separate attack, the HTX exchange of Huobi Global also lost $7.9 million due to a breach on September 24th.
Published At
10/9/2023 4:52:32 AM
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