Hacking Attempts on Upbit Surge to 159,061 in First Half of 2023

Hacking attempts on South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, have surged to 159,061 in the first half of 2023, according to data submitted to the National Assembly. The figure represents a 2.17-fold increase compared to the same period last year. Lawmaker Park Sung-jung criticizes the ambiguous role of the Ministry of Science and Technology in regulating the exchange.

Surge in Hacking Attempts

Data submitted by Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, to the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee revealed that hacking attempts on the exchange reached 159,061 in the first half of 2023. This marks a 2.17-fold increase from the 73,249 attempts recorded in the first half of 2022.

Escalating Concerns

The number of hacking attempts on Upbit has been on a steady rise. The figures for the second half of 2020, first half of 2021, second half of 2021, first half of 2022, and second half of 2022 were 8,356, 34,687, 63,912, 73,249, and 87,242, respectively. Upbit suffered a significant loss of approximately 58 billion KRW (~$49 million) due to a hacking attack in 2019.

Security Measures and Criticism

In response to the rising threats, Dunamu stated that they manage over 70% of their assets in cold wallets and operate hot wallets in a distributed structure. Cold wallets are offline cryptocurrency wallets, while hot wallets are online but less secure. Despite these measures, lawmaker Park Sung-jung criticized the unclear role of the Ministry of Science and Technology in managing and supervising the exchange.

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