December 2024 ended with total losses from cryptocurrency vulnerabilities amounting to $118 million, according to a CertiK report. The majority of these losses — $93.4 million — were linked to phishing schemes, highlighting the critical importance of protection against social engineering. Major incidents noted in the report include cases involving Trust Wallet, Flow, and Unleash Protocol, with monthly losses rising 37% compared to November.
Overview of Vulnerabilities in December 2024
The total $118 million reflects a combination of attack vectors: social engineering, smart contract vulnerabilities, and private key compromises. These incidents occurred across various networks and ecosystem components, from wallets to governance protocols and oracles. This distribution indicates that security issues persist both at the user level and infrastructure level.
Phishing as the Primary Threat
Phishing attacks accounted for approximately 79% of all losses in December, equivalent to $93.4 million, with attackers employing increasingly sophisticated tactics. The report describes fake airdrop announcements, counterfeit support channels, and multi-chain methods affecting Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Polygon networks. For understanding social engineering and how to recognize it, the article on protection against scammers is useful, revealing typical attack scenarios and basic precautions.
Analysis of Key Incidents
Trust Wallet
Trust Wallet lost $8.5 million due to a phishing campaign targeting wallet recovery phrases. The report notes that attackers combined fake extensions and social engineering techniques to collect seed phrases. Details of the incident and its impact on users are described in the article on the Trust Wallet hack.
Flow
In Flow's case, the damage totaled $3.9 million and was linked to validator node compromises and governance mechanism vulnerabilities. The attack demonstrated the critical need to protect validator keys and voting processes in decentralized governance networks. This incident illustrates that even infrastructure components require special security attention.
Unleash Protocol
Unleash Protocol also lost $3.9 million due to a combination of a flash-loan attack and price oracle manipulation. This case shows how technical exploits and market manipulation can combine to drain funds from protocols. Such incidents emphasize the importance of robust pricing mechanisms and liquidity controls.
Comparison with Previous Months
Compared to November, when total losses were $86 million, December showed a 37% increase and a significant rise in financial damage. The report notes that the share of phishing in the loss structure grew, and the number of serious incidents increased. This indicates a shift in attacker priorities and the need to revise protective measures.
Security Recommendations
Following the December incidents, experts recommend combining technical measures with user caution to reduce risks. The CertiK report and other specialists advise implementing multisignature wallets and time-locks for large transactions, conducting mandatory audits before launches, and using anomaly detection tools.
- Multisig wallets and time-locks for large holdings
- Mandatory code audits and oracle verification
- User education on recognizing phishing and verifying sources
Why This Matters
Even if you mine and don’t keep large sums in hot wallets, the rise in phishing and protocol exploits increases overall ecosystem risks. Liquidity compromises and service hacks can indirectly affect the availability and cost of services you use to withdraw or exchange mined cryptocurrency. Understanding attack vectors helps take practical steps and avoid falling victim to simple social engineering tricks.
What to Do?
For a miner with one or a thousand devices, just a few consecutive steps can reduce personal risks and protect funds. Below is a practical guide that can be implemented quickly and without significant expense.
- Separate storage: keep earnings in cold wallets or multisig schemes, and use minimal amounts on hot addresses for operational needs.
- Never enter seed phrases in browsers or install suspicious extensions; verify official sources and hashes during updates.
- Check airdrop announcements and support only through official project channels; avoid clicking suspicious links in messages and social media.
- Use hardware wallets for significant amounts and enable available transaction preview features in wallets.