Hackers tried to break into Upbit, the biggest crypto exchange in South Korea, over 159,000 times in the first half of 2023, according to its operator, Dunamu. With a 117% increase from the same period in 2022 and a staggering 1,800% increase from the first half of 2020, this data shows huge growth.
According to CoinGecko, Upbit is one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, with a staggering $1.2 billion in 24-hour trading activity. Bithumb, Coinone, and Gopax are a few other important South Korean exchange market participants.
Upbit strengthened its security protocols
Dunamu disclosed that the exchange had strengthened its security procedures in response to the spike in security breach attempts. This includes boosting the percentage of money kept in cold wallets to 70% in order to strengthen the system’s security. Additionally, for money stored in hot wallets, Upbit has put in place improved security mechanisms.
In 2019, Upbit encountered a $50 million exploit. According to a spokeswoman for Dunamu, the company implemented several procedures to prevent a repeat of the hacking incident, including the distribution and use of hot wallets.
There hasn’t been a single cyberattack to date. It’s important to keep in mind that hot wallets, which keep private keys online, are more prone to hacking than cold wallets, which save private keys on external storage media like hard disks and USBs.
However, Upbit had a setback when it was forced to halt Aptos token services in late September. That happened because the platform missed a fake token called “ClaimAPTGift.com,” which got into 400,000 Aptos wallets.
Increase in Crypto Hacks in South Korea
Seong-jung called on the South Korean government to act more forcefully while acknowledging the rise in cryptocurrency hacks.
In view of the frequent hacking attempts, he underlined the necessity for the Ministry of Science and Technology to carry out thorough cybersecurity testing and look into how information security-ready virtual asset exchanges are. He also emphasized the Ministry of Science and ICT’s questionable oversight and management of these exchanges.
Several crypto exchanges were attacked repeatedly in September. One of the company’s private keys was hacked, resulting in a $70 million hack against CoinEx, a Hong Kong-based company. The business gave its customers peace of mind by promising to make up for lost money. On September 24, an exploit resulted in a loss of $7.9 million on Huobi Global’s HTX exchange.
