October, the tenth month of the year, will never be forgotten by Decentralized Finance (DeFi) as 2022’s October was undoubtedly the worst month in history.

Hacktober

The month is now recognized as ‘Hacktober’ instead of ‘October’ in the crypto industry because 53 DeFi projects were exploited by hackers this month.

It seems as if the hackers have developed a huge appetite, particularly with regard to DeFi projects. Most of the DeFi projects, which were victimized by cybercriminals, were not ordinary projects but top-notch projects.

53 DeFi Projects Exploited

While the exploited projects certainly inflicted losses, however, the hackers have reportedly made huge profits. In October alone, roughly $760 Million had been stolen by DeFi exploiters.

PeckShield, which is a cyber-security provider company for blockchain networks, noted that hacking activities were at their peak throughout 2022. However, the major victim of such activities was the DeFi sector.

It noted that there were 53 DeFi projects which became the victims of hack attacks and that millions of dollars were looted and plundered by cyber criminals.

According to PeckSheild, however, the month of October was the worst in the year. It recorded that approximately 53 protocols pertaining to DeFi were breached by the hackers.

The security service provider also noted that though the protocols breached were 53, however, the successful hack attempts were 44. As a result thereof, these 53 DeFi projects inflicted a loss of more than $760 Million.

As noted by PeckSheild, BNB Chain was amongst the top victims of hackers which single-handedly lost $586 Million to hackers. At number two was the Mango Markets from which the hackers managed to steal $100 Million approximately.

Team Finance was infected by the hackers by implanting a bug that subsequently changed the V2 version into V3. Resultantly, protocol migration allowed the hackers to steal roughly $15.8 Million.

Only $100 Million Recovered So Far

The security company also took notice of the fact that so far only $115 Million has been recovered out of $760 Million. Considering the accumulated losses within the DeFi sector, the recovery is just a meager sum.

The hacker who exploited Mango Markets was even identified to be one ‘Avraham Eisenburg’. The perpetrator made a claim that his actions in exploiting Mango Markets were legal.

This then paved the way for opening up a discussion with Eisenburg with the Mango Markets. Resultantly, the exploited and exploiter explored the possibility of entering into an agreement.

Negotiations then took place and a deal was executed between the two as a result Eisenburg was allowed to take home $67 Million. As regards the rest $50 Million, the exploiter returned the same to Mango Markets.

2022’s DeFi Losses Doubled Since 2021

As per the report of PeckShield, the losses caused by DeFi projects during hack attacks that occurred in 2022 doubled since 2021. Last year the overall losses were $1.5 Billion, however, so far 2022 has seen a loss of over $3 Billion.