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Hackers, thieves… We might call them crypto raiders. In 2022, we have suffered over $3 billion loss due to cyber attacks on multiple blockchains. Only in October, more than $720 million have been stolen. The main target is always the same: blockchain, specifically decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, which often do not have solid and reliable infrastructures. In 2020, DeFi crypto assets stolen accounts for 30% of the 2020 hacks; in 2021 the rate rose to 72% (out of $3.2 billion dollars looted by malicious users) and, in the current year, it exceeds 90%. Why is this happening? DeFi applications and protocols are based on smart contracts. Those are contracts consisting of strings of code which automatically execute, upon the occurrence of certain conditions, the expected operation. In 2021, these applications experienced exponential growth, which inevitably attracted the interest of cyber thieves.
2022 breaches overview
One of the last breaches involved Moola Market, a DeFi lend & borrow application built on Celo blockchain. The malicious user managed to steal over $10 million. It seems like no big deal if you compare that amount to the overall loss in October: according to Chainalysis, October 2022 has been the worst month in DeFi history with $720 million dollars lost and counting. And those figures make 2022 as bad as you could imagine, because, since January 2022, the crypto raiders have managed to steal more than $3 billion dollars. However, there is a point to underline: not all cyber attacks come from malicious hackers. In the world of hacking, there are some users causing violations in order to make developers aware of a bug or a potential flaw in the code. They are known as ethical hackers. They “steal” at first, yet they later give the loot back. Actually, ethical hackers are then rewarded with a “bug bounty” for their actions. Even though the funds are safe, these hacks are successful, so it does not change the fact that 2022 might be the worst year ever so far in the crypto space since Bitcoin launched in 2009. What are crypto raiders aiming at? According to Chainalysis, it’s cross-chain bridges. In blockchain terminology, a bridge is an application that allows interoperability between different blockchains. Bridges make blockchain communicate. Just in October, three bridges have been breached and the overall 2022 losses related to them is 64% of the total crypto hacks suffered over the year.
Why you should learn blockchain?
DeFi, Agrifood, IoT, Sharing Economy, Insurance, Art, Gaming, Law. Blockchain’s use cases are endless, and understanding the way to make this technology even more efficient is just the beginning. One of the most relevant field of application is the industrial sector, where countless jobs of the future could theoretically be replaced by smart contracts, oracles and AI.
Blockchain’s skills are increasingly in demand. It is not too late to start your career now: blockchain is just becoming everyday life. However, the learning curve is still steep: many companies still cannot fully understand the difference between an usual database and a blockchain, so when they turn to business advisors, their use cases are often not suitable for the technology they want to use.
Here’s what it takes:
By checking different job vacancies, this is a list of the most relevant skills and requirements:
- Understanding of algorithms, data security, decentralized technologies and data structures.
- A solid background in coding skills, with at least one of the following programming languages: Python, JavaScript, Solidity, JAVA, C, C++.
- General understanding of ledgers, blockchains and cryptocurrencies.
- Expertise in performance management and anomaly detection.
- At least basic experience in building blockchain frameworks and business applications.
Cybersecurity threats
Cybersecurity sector has been constantly growing lately. Everyday cyber attacks are on the agenda. The latest researches present worrying statistics indeed:
- 94% of malwares is delivered via email.
- 85% of cybersecurity breaches are caused by human errors.
- A ransomware attack occurs every 10 seconds.
- Cybercrime's annual global losses are expected to reach $10.5 trilion by 2025.
Also, blockchain’s use cases are endless and understanding the way to make this technology even more efficient is just the beginning.
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