Why Do Hackers Attack Crypto?

The crypto industry is witnessing several hacks lately to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. The untoward events are increasing in frequency with the rise of the industry's popularity. With more sophisticated applications and platforms deployed, hackers are finding ways to capitalize on vulnerabilities. While users are making handsome profits with crypto investments, hackers are not far behind. High-profile hacks show how incentivizing it is to steal funds and operate on the dark side of crypto.

With every passing year recording new highs for stolen cryptocurrency, the industry finds itself in a concerning spot. What's more concerning is how effortlessly funds get stolen from the crypto industry compared to traditional finance. The ease with which it gets done is translating to increased hacking incidents. Cryptocurrency is now an area of high interest for cybercriminals despite all the innovation crowding fintech, centralized or decentralized. But why?

Why The Crypto Industry Is Highly Vulnerable To Hacks

Several innovations and changes have occurred in the decentralized markets and the technologies that drive them, but one thing remains constant – users and platforms getting attacked. Whether it is user negligence or the carelessness of the developers behind applications, the possibility of preventing attacks in the industry might seem impossible. However, progress is being made to overcome the bleak state of security in the industry. Let us examine why attackers are more attracted to the crypto industry over others.

Technologies That Operate Crypto Are Still New

Blockchain technology, the underlying framework that makes crypto transactions possible, is still very new. What started with Bitcoin and the network's impeccable safety in preventing hackers from taking over, many complimentary applications and new networks inspired by its decentralization have yet to replicate its security. Wallet applications, cryptocurrency exchanges, newer blockchains and consensus mechanisms, smart contracts, and many more are still in their developmental stages. Nevertheless, the innovation witnessed in the crypto industry is insanely high, and new implementations and use cases roll out very often.

The novel technology is cutting-edge even for tech-savvy crypto investors, and wrapping their heads around how to manage crypto securely requires a learning curve for most users. Unfortunately, attackers and scammers take advantage of this fact and pull fast ones over unsuspecting crypto users and investors who need to comprehend the functioning of crypto and blockchain infrastructures fully.

Moreover, the innovation experienced in the space and their implementation is way too quick, preventing the development of security standards needed for operating user assets from keeping up. For instance, attackers can find vulnerabilities with newly developed blockchains and stage 51% attacks – manipulating the amount of crypto they can spend and destroying the blockchain. The newness of the technology is allowing hackers to find such holes in their security before the developers can consider them. Sadly, by this point, many platforms have grown to handle enormous amounts of user funds to which hackers gain access.

Crypto Industry Possesses Large Amounts of Value

Hackers are interested in attacking crypto platforms because they hold so much user funds and value. There is big money in the crypto industry because of the rising popularity of these digital assets. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other altcoins are bringing ingenuine use cases to the fintech space, and user confidence in these assets is shooting up their market capitalizations to all-time highs. The second half of the last decade has been a great time to invest in the crypto space because it has been breaking out into the mainstream. CoinGecko, the world's largest cryptocurrency data aggregator, suggests that the total cryptocurrency market capitalization is close to $1 trillion and was known to be thrice that amount in the recent past.

The insanely high values of crypto coins and tokens are not just attractive to investors and spectators. Hackers identify what they can walk away with after staging successful exploits over the infrastructure that holds and operates cryptocurrencies. The large amounts of liquidity crypto platforms possess and the vulnerabilities accompanying them are too hard to resist for those that can exploit them. Crypto is where the money is, and hackers attack crypto to walk away with all the money.

Lack Of Regulatory Oversight

The enormous value flowing through the crypto ecosystems needs stringent oversight from authorities and regulators. Crypto, a new development in the fintech space, and its rapid rise to relevance are catching legislators by surprise. The amount of crypto users possess and, therefore, are at risk of losing is only becoming apparent after the fact. Thus, the chaotic crypto space has lacked regulations to protect investors and users from losing all their funds to attacks.

The lack of regulations allows crypto companies that manage user funds to engage in risky behavior and adopt sub-par security mechanisms. Moreover, more legal accountability is needed to motivate most crypto companies to adopt robust mechanisms to prevent attacks. Such carelessness has led to the theft of large amounts of funds from platforms, leaving the users with nothing. For instance, such companies' lack of AML and KYC framework implementation makes it easier for hackers to use platforms alongside unsuspecting users and dupe them of their funds.

However, this is changing presently as regulators worldwide are realizing the significance of crypto and how this ungoverned space can lead to disastrous results for investors. Laws and guidelines are being made for crypto businesses to adhere to if they want to operate. As regulations get enforced, crypto businesses will be held with the same accountability as traditional finance businesses. As a result, the crypto industry can expect better robustness in the time to come.

Conclusion

Various factors make hackers attack crypto ecosystems and run away with large sums. Unfortunately, the users always get the short end of the stick and lose their investments. Despite its quick ability to make users profits, cryptocurrency can be a scary place to invest. With no certainty of the security of funds in the ecosystem, users are conflicted with acquiring cryptocurrency.

However, regulators are entering the scene and making the ecosystem safer for usage. While several regulations are getting enforced, policies like AML and KYC are the most important in safeguarding user funds and platforms from attackers. AMLBot also contributes by helping monitor the source of crypto transactions and flagging “dirty sources”. The fear of losing your funds to attackers will soon be non-existent because of the upcoming crypto regulations across the globe.