Recently, the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit reported dealing with a whopping 159,000 hacking attempts during the first half of 2023. This marks a significant increase in cyberattacks on the exchange, with 117% more than last year and a staggering 1800% surge from 2020.
A Sharp Rise in Hacking Tries On Crypto Exchanges
Upbit is a major cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, handling around $1.2 billion in trading within a day. Eventually, it was attacked with more than 159,000 hacking attempts during the first half of 2023.
Dunamu, the company behind Upbit, shared this alarming information with Park Seong-Jung, a representative from the People Power Party in South Korea.
To fend off these growing security threats, Upbit has put in place more robust security measures. The exchange now keeps 70% of its funds in cold wallets, considered safer because they are offline. Also, Upbit has tightened its security for funds stored in hot wallets, which are more vulnerable to attacks because they keep private keys online.
Upbit had a big security breach in 2019, where $50 million was lost. However, they haven’t faced security issues since then, according to a Dunamu spokesperson.
Recently, though, Upbit had to temporarily stop its Aptos token services because it didn’t detect a fake token called “ClaimAPTGift.com,” affecting around 400,000 Aptos wallets.
South Korean Government Urged to Act
Acknowledging the rise in cryptocurrency-related hacks, Park Seong-jung urged the government to act more.
The Ministry of Science and Technology should conduct extensive simulated security tests and assess information security conditions to prepare for potential cyberattacks on virtual asset exchanges, which often face hacking attempts.
He stressed the need for collaboration between the South Korean government and cryptocurrency exchanges to enhance security measures and protect the investments of traders and investors.
Multiple Cryptocurrency Exchanges Face Cyber Attacks
It’s important to note that Upbit isn’t the only exchange hit by cyberattacks. CoinEx, a Hong Kong-based exchange, faced a massive $70 million hack in September when one of its private keys was compromised.
In a separate attack on September 24, Huobi Global’s HTX exchange lost $7.9 million.
As hacking attempts related to cryptocurrencies continue to increase, the security of digital assets becomes a significant concern.
