Cybersecurity firm CertiK has told users not to expect a respite from bad actors this year but to protect their private keys as hackers may focus on that front this year. The firm stated that the frequent hacks of last year show that bad actors may not slow down in 2023. 

“We saw a large number of incidents last year despite the crypto bear market, so we do not anticipate a respite in exploits, flash loans, or exit scams.”

The firm places more emphasis on bridge exploits because malicious actors within the crypto space ran riot last year, stealing over $1.4 on the largest six bridge exploits alone. 

On wallet security, the company foresees fewer attacks on digital asset wallets because users have gotten a good grasp of the Profanity tool vulnerability which bad actors used to defraud users in the past. The tool allows users to create ‘vanity addresses’ which can be exploited by malicious players. 

According to the firm, wallet hacks this year will be largely caused by poor user security.

“It’s possible that funds lost to private key compromises in 2023 will be due to poor management of private keys, bar any future vulnerability found in wallet generators,” the company added.