*I wonder if anybody will ever be able to steal so much wealth so easily and so quickly again. also: are the thieves "hodlers"? Then boy have they ever lost a lot of loot in a hurry.
https://ciphertrace.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/crypto_aml_report_2018q3.pdf
Analysis of Major Cryptocurrency Thefts Reported at Exchanges and at
Platforms in Q3 2018
Nothing in the third quarter could compare with the massive $520 million Coincheck exchange robbery earlier this year. However, the most recent data shows a steadily growing number of cryptocurrency thefts, which included several heists in the $20-$60 million range, totaling $166 million since reported in the second quarter of 2018. This data indicates a pattern of smaller robberies on a regular basis and sophisticated professional cyber thieves who carry out hacks at both the exchange and platform levels by capitalizing on exposed vulnerabilities, as well as by socially engineering employees who work at these companies.
1. Bithumb – Exchange Hack
South Korea based Bithumb—the world’s sixth-largest cryptocurrency exchange—reported a loss of $30 million in cryptocurrency due to a cyber intrusion. According to Bithumb, the theft was caused by “unauthorized access to its online wallets.” Once the attack was recognized, Bithumb urgently disabled deposits on the platform and also began to move all coins stored in online wallets to more secure offline ‘cold’ wallets to prevent further theft.
contact@CipherTrace.com Copyright 2018 CipherTrace. All rights reserved Report-CAML-20181010B
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2. Bancor – Exchange/ICO Hack
At the beginning of July 2018, hackers stole $23.5 million in cryptocurrency from the 'decentralized' crypto exchange Bancor. The loss included $12.5 million in Ethereum along with BNT and NPXS tokens totaling $11 million. This massive security breach forced the firm to shut down operations. Bancor had been one of the more high-profile Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) of 2017, raking in $153 million during its token sale event. According to Bancor, a wallet used to update some smart contracts was breached and used to withdraw the cryptocurrency.
3. Geth – Platform Vulnerability
Security experts revealed that hackers had stolen more than $20 million in Ethereum by using insecurely configured Geth clients. Geth is one of the most popular clients for running the Ethereum node. Its JSON-RPC interface allows users—and thieves—to remotely access the Ethereum blockchain and node functionalities, including the ability to send transactions from any account which has been unlocked before sending a transaction. Once unlocked, however, the port stays opened for the entire session. The unwitting victims had opened their JSON-RPC port 8545 to the outside world, allowing hackers to breach their Ethereum wallets.
4. Coinrail – Exchange Hack
Korea-based coin exchange Coinrail lost more than $40 million in altcoins (ICO-issued tokens) in an apparent weekend cyber heist. Most notably, the hackers got away with $19.5 million worth of NPXS tokens that were issued by payment project Pundi X’s ICO. On top of that crypto loot, “they scored a further $13.8 million from Aston X, an ICO project building a platform to decentralize documents, $5.8 million in tokens for Dent, a mobile data ICO, and over $1.1 million Tron, a much-hyped project originating from China,” According to TechCrunch.
The tokens had been maintained on the exchange’s servers, but following the discovery of the hack, Coinrail immediately moved to secure its cryptocurrency assets by taking its wallets offline. The exchange also worked with affected ICO companies in an attempt to freeze the stolen funds.
5. Bitcoin Gold – Blockchain 51% Attack
BitCoin Gold was compromised by a “51 percent attack” in which the hackers apparently employed rented computers to achieve this previously theoretical type of cyberattack....
