Four months later, hackers stole at least $150 million from crypto exchange Bitmart. According to one analysis, unidentified hackers used a stolen private key to open two “hot wallets” and extract funds.

Security incidents like these are not new in the crypto world, but the size of these hacks appears to be growing as cryptocurrency prices have surged over the past year, drawing more mainstream attention.

Five of the 10 largest crypto thefts of all time have happened this year, according to data compiled by consumer website Comparitech. And these incidents may only continue due to increased cryptocurrency usage, according to financial tech experts.

Here’s what you should know about what’s happening — and how to keep your digital assets safe.

What is happening?

The two main targets of crypto hacks currently are centralized exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi) services, according to Tom Robinson, chief scientist at London-based crypto compliance firm Elliptic.

Centralized exchanges have been the prime target of hacking groups for several years. These exchanges store a user’s assets in “hot wallets,” or digital wallets that are connected to the internet. This makes them more accessible for users, but also potentially more vulnerable to savvy hackers.

The recent BitMart hack was one such example. Another is the Coincheck attack in 2018, which saw roughly $530 million stolen, making it the biggest crypto heist ever — until the Poly Network incident this year, according to Comparitech’s data.

DeFi services are a newer part of the crypto world. DeFi software applications cut out exchanges all together, as they are run directly on top of blockchain platforms, and hacks of these services are usually due to coding errors or issues with design of apps, according to Robinson. Major examples include Poly Network as well as a more recent hack of Badger DAO, a platform that gives users vaults in which to store bitcoin and earn profit. The Badger DAO hack resulted in the loss of $120 million.

University professor and security researcher Stephanie Carvin. Carvin said it implies the actions CSE is taking is not just to stop hacks against Canadian organizations, but as a deterrent.

“It’s a big day in Canadian cybersecurity history,” Carvin, a former intelligence analyst, said in an interview.

“Cybercrime is the primary cyber threat to Canada … I wonder if the confirmation itself is just kind of the CSE acknowledging the scope of the problem is so severe that they have to become involved as well.”