Война с киберпреступниками: почему человеческий фактор остается самым уязвимым звеном Translation: The Battle Against Cybercriminals: Why the Human Factor Remains the Most Vulnerable Link

The crypto industry is engaged in an «endless battle» against hackers who continue to exploit the most vulnerable aspect — the human factor. This was stated in an interview with Cointelegraph by the founder of CertiK and professor at Columbia University, Junhui Gu.

According to analysts, losses in the first half of the year reached $2.47 billion, which is already a 3% increase compared to the total for all of 2024. The largest incident was the attack on the Bybit exchange, during which criminals stole $1.4 billion.

In the second quarter, the damage caused by hacker activity decreased to $800 million, with a total of 144 attacks recorded by specialists. However, forecasts remain bleak, as Gu expects that losses will remain at the billion-dollar level in 2026.

«As long as there are vulnerabilities or weaknesses, sooner or later, they will be discovered by attackers. This is an endless war. But I fear that next year, [losses from hacks] will still be measured in billions of dollars,» he said.

He noted that cybercriminals’ tactics are evolving alongside security measures. Hackers are increasingly focusing on exploiting human behavior, Gu pointed out.

Last year, half of the incidents were related to operational vulnerabilities. Now, attackers are more frequently using social engineering. For instance, in August, a user lost $3 million by approving a fraudulent transaction. Another victim was defrauded of $900,000 after unwittingly approving a malicious contract 458 days earlier.

It’s worth noting that on August 21, on-chain investigator ZachXBT revealed that cybercriminals swindled $91 million from a Bitcoin investor. The hackers posed as representatives of a cryptocurrency exchange and customer support for a hardware wallet.