Cracking down on crypto hacks will require hardening cyber defenses, Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at crypto sleuthing firm TRM Labs, told CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover” on Thursday.

Redbord, a former prosecutor for the Department of Justice, said that finding strategies to identify and trace illicit activity will mean developing better “blockchain intelligence tools” that can identify new mixers before bad actors can get to them.

“Bad guys are getting better, and their tactics are becoming more sophisticated,” Redbord said. “But the reality is the tools, regulation and the investigators and law enforcement are also becoming more sophisticated.”

According to TRM Labs, more than $3.6 billion in funds have been drained in crypto this year. About 80%, or roughly $3 billion, targeted decentralized finance (DeFi).

That's because many DeFi platforms are new and haven't developed robust cybersecurity tools yet and because the platforms have a lot of liquidity, he said.

(By Fran Velasquez)