Hackers stole over $2.7 billion in the last decade, new research of the biggest financial hacks revealed all
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In the increasingly digital world we live in, the biggest heists are now taking place online. Hackers have had their eyes set on over $3.4 Billion from financial institutions over the past decade, with 82% of hacks being successful (costing $2.753 Billion) and 63% of thieves remaining unknown.
So What Were The Biggest Financial Hacks Of The Past Decade?
Traders Of Crypto have combined multiple sources to find the biggest online attacks against financial institutions that resulted in money being directly stolen to discover the world’s biggest financial hacks of the last decade, including how much was stolen, who it was stolen by and exactly who the targets were.
You can view the research in full here: https://tradersofcrypto.com/financial-hacks/
Top 10 biggest financial hacks of the last decade
Rank | Nickname/Name | Date of | Target | Location | Group
/Individual |
Cost $ | Status | Crypto |
1 | Coincheck Crypto Heist | January 2018 | Coincheck | Japan | DPRK Affiliated | $534,000,000 | Successful | Yes |
2 | Mt. Gox Heist 1 | November 2011 | Mt. Gox | Japan | Unknown | $450,000,000 | Successful | Yes |
3 | Malaysian Central Bank Attempted SWIFT Heist | March 2018 | Malaysian Central Bank | Malaysia | DPRK Affiliated | $390,000,000 | Failed | No |
4 | KuCoin Hack | September 2020 | KuCoin | Hong Kong | Unknown | $280,000,000 | Successful | Yes |
5 | Bitgrail Crypto Heist | February 2018 | BitGrail | Italy | Unknown | $170,000,000 | Successful | Yes |
5 | Union Bank of India Attempted SWIFT Heist | July 2016 | Union Bank of India | India | DPRK Affiliated | $170,000,000 | Recovered | No |
7 | Bancomext Attempted SWIFT Heist | January 2018 | Bancomext | Mexico | DPRK Affiliated | $110,000,000 | Failed | No |
8 | GozNym Gang Arrested | May 2019 | Global | U.S., Bulgaria, Germany, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine | GozNym Gang | $100,000,000+ | Successful | No |
8 | Nigerian Bank Attempted SWIFT Heist | July 2016 | Nigerian Bank | Nigeria | DPRK Affiliated | $100,000,000 | Recovered | No |
10 | Bangladesh Bank SWIFT Hack | February 2016 | Bangladesh Central Bank | Bangladesh | Unknown | $81,000,000 | Successful | No |
The 2018 Coincheck Crypto Heist was noted as “the biggest theft in the history of the world” as DPRK Affiliated successfully stole $534 million from Coincheck, forcing the bitcoin company to freeze all transactions.
DPRK Affiliated are the biggest known financial hack culprit, making up 29% of the 80 hacks identified.
The second biggest theft from Mt. Gox resulted in approximately 850,000 bitcoins being stolen from customers, equivalent to $450 million, leading to the eventual bankruptcy and closure of the exchange in 2014. The thefts spanned from 2011 to 2014 with the hackers remaining unknown.
The largest failed financial attack was the DPRK Affiliated attempted SWIFT Heist on the Malaysian Central Bank. Using an interbank communication system, hackers attempted to transfer $390 million to a different bank, into untraceable accounts, however, the attempt failed.
You can view the research in full by clicking here.
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