Crypto Exchange Upbit Faced Over 159,000 Hacking Attempts in H1 2023: Report

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit faced a daunting challenge in the first half of 2023, with more than 159,000 hacking attempts, according to reports from Dunamu. This company owns and operates Upbit. This marks a 117% increase from 2022 and a remarkable 1,800% surge since H1 2020.

Upbit, a key player in South Korea’s crypto exchange, sees a 24-hour trading volume of around $1.2 billion (per CoinGecko). Other major South Korean exchanges include Bithumb, Coinone, and Gopax.

To bolster security, Upbit increased cold wallet storage to 70% of funds, countering the rising wave of hacking attempts. Additionally, they’ve heightened security measures for assets held in hot wallets. Hot wallets, online, are more hack-prone than cold wallets, which keep keys offline on external drives or USBs.

Despite experiencing a $50 million exploit in 2019, Upbit has maintained its security record without further breaches.

However, in late September, Upbit temporarily suspended its Aptos token services when it failed to detect a fraudulent token named “ClaimAPTGift.com,” which reached 400,000 Aptos wallets.

1/ 🔒 Crypto Deposits Security Thread 🔒

Today’s Upbit incident highlights a crucial aspect that is often overlooked – the security of crypto deposits. While a lot is discussed around private key management & withdrawals security, deposits have a similar attack surface. ⤵️🧵 pic.twitter.com/5NEAyJB63N

— Nass Eddequiouaq (@nassyweazy) September 25, 2023

Representative Park Seong-jung recognized the rising trend of cryptocurrency hacks, urging the South Korean government to take decisive action.

Seong-jung urged comprehensive mock tests by the Ministry of Science and Technology to prepare for increased hacking attempts on virtual asset exchanges. He also expressed concerns about the ambiguous role of the Ministry of Science and ICT in overseeing these matters.

Due to security concerns, South Korea’s crypto market cap nearly doubled in H1 2023, surpassing an impressive $21 billion.

During this time, crypto exchanges faced hacking attacks, including CoinEx in Hong Kong and Huobi Global’s HTX exchange.