Crypto Security: Anti-Hack Guide for Exchanges and Wallets

In 2025, according to Chainalysis: Crypto Crime Mid Year Update, unhappy numbers were reported regarding the amount that was stolen within the first 6 months of the year — $2.17 billion. This is almost 18% worse than the peak in 2022, and the platform suggests that if this trend continues, 2025 is expected to reach an unbelievably $4.3 billion. Those numbers are estimated amounts only of the illicit transfers that have been identified. Imagine how much there is still to be intercepted.

These statistics are not to frighten anyone here, but to raise questions of security and what the best practices are to protect your business from hacking or financial loss.

Without further ado, fasten your seatbelts, we are going to the latest security threats, trends, hacks, and solutions.

Security Threats in Crypto Services

If you’re managing a crypto wallet, exchange, or fintech platform, you already know: security isn’t optional. It’s the foundation of everything: user trust, brand reputation, and financial stability.

The threat landscape is noisy, and frankly, it can feel a bit overwhelming with a new ‘catastrophe’ in the headlines every week. But if you’re trying to protect a platform, you can’t be everywhere at once. You have to cut through the fluff and focus on the risks that actually have the power to sink the ship.

The Big Three: Hacking, Phishing, and Code Vulnerabilities

1. Hacking attacks are taking the crown of being the most financially devastating, as they bring the most liquidity losses. Usually, they are not random attempts, but professionally organized operations aim to steal the private keys or penetrate crypto wallets. One of the most famous and recent crypto hacks was held on February 21, 2025. According to the source, $1.4 billion of ETH was stolen by North Korean hackers, who employed the leakage of private keys in ByBit’s hot wallet system of the platform.

2. Hackers also love phishing because it’s easier to trick a human than it is to crack a server. They use fake messages to prey on your emotions, hoping you’ll get careless and just give them what they want. And the scary fact? In H1 of 2025, the total of 344 incidents caused $2.47 billion of losses. The illegal organizations become smarter and smarter day by day, creating perfect replicas of the legitimate exchange websites. One wrong click and your sensitive information or even worse, your private keys are compromised.

Once, the ChangeNOW team was able to intercept nearly $100.000 in BTC, after hackers used social engineering techniques against a successful businessman who fell into the scammer’s trap. The team acted quickly and proactively, launching an internal investigation and tracking down a suspicious blockchain wallet holding the stolen BTC. The story ended with a happy outcome: the client got his funds back. However, we must be realistic: while platforms do everything in their power to protect and help their clients, your security is a shared responsibility. The final line of defense is always on your side.

3. Code Vulnerabilities are silent killers, the backbone of DeFi – Smart Contracts, may contain bugs that hackers wouldn’t mind exploiting. Millions can be drained from the platforms, and blockchain’s immutability means once funds are stolen, they’re gone for good.

Best Security Practices for Crypto Services

Security is not a happy accident. Many businesses are required to secure their assets as well as users to stay compliant and be reputable in the market.

Multi-Factor Authentication: Your First Armor

Most of us are used to that extra step after entering a password—the SMS code, the ‘yes’ prompt, the push notification. It’s easy to view 2FA as a nuisance, but in the current climate, skipping it is effectively leaving the front door wide open. When it comes to access control, there is no such thing as being ‘over-prepared.’

That said, not all 2FA is created equal. SMS-based codes are a decent start, but they have a massive blind spot: the SIM swap. It’s surprisingly easy for a motivated hacker to talk a phone carrier into porting your number to their device. To really lock things down, you need to move toward hardware-backed security like YubiKey or at least app-based authenticators like Google Authenticator.

Strong Passwords and Password Policies

This sounds basic, but it’s where many breaches begin. Strong passwords should be:

• Unique to each account (never reuse passwords)
• At least 12-16 characters long
• A mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols
• Not based on personal information

Example of a strong password: X4jW%)-9!767@T3]

A pro tip here: use a password manager. Generate and store unique and strong passwords in one place. Just make sure to protect your password manager with strong 2FA.

Encryption: Make Your Stolen Data Useless

Don’t hesitate to employ encryption technology to transform your sensitive data to gibberish, in case hackers find a way to outsmart your above mentioned security measures. You can encrypt anything, and we would especially recommend encrypting your personal info and key when sending or keeping it somewhere. This extra layer of protection will safeguard your data, making it nearly impossible for intruders to exploit the stolen & encrypted data.

Updates & Patching

Software and crypto have a code base, which means that hackers might find loopholes and breaches for their profit. Developers release new updates not for fun but to patch security issues and not let criminals break in.

Create a routine for yourself:

• Deploy critical security patches immediately
• Test updates in a staging environment before production deployment
• Maintain an inventory of all software and dependencies
• Set up automated alerts for new vulnerabilities

Secure Data Transfer Protocols: Move Your Data Safely

When it comes to moving data, please stop treating public Wi-Fi like it’s safe. Logging into a crypto service at a coffee shop without a VPN is a critical security risk. Stick to HTTPS, use end-to-end encryption for any sensitive Interactions, and keep in mind that any unsecured network is being watched by someone you may not want to meet.

Security Solutions to Protect Crypto

When it comes to real security in the crypto world, you need more than just basic practices – you need serious protection.

Hardware Security Modules: The Keys to Fort Knox

HSMs are the real deal – physical devices that keep your private keys locked safely away in a secure, tamper-proof environment. They’re your personal vault for those all-important keys.

The importance of HSMs can’t be overstated – your private keys are what keep your funds safe, and if someone gets their hands on them, you’re in real trouble. HSMs make sure your keys stay safe, even when they’re in use. And that’s especially important for big exchanges and custodians who are managing money on a massive scale.

Identity and Access Management: Don’t Let the Door Swing Open

IAM systems keep close tabs on who’s doing what in your organization. They make sure employees only get the access they need, not a whole lot more.

So here’s what you can expect from IAM systems:

• Role-based permissions: Make sure the right people get the right access based on the job they do
• One login to rule them all: No more juggling multiple passwords – one set of credentials gets you into all the systems you need
• A paper trail: Keep close track of every login and action for auditing purposes
• Lock up loose ends: Automatically cut off access when employees leave

This is serious stuff – if a hacker gets hold of your keys or passwords, they’ll have a field day. They can steal your crypto with ease if they get the access they need.

Intrusion detection and prevention systems: the security cameras that lock doors

These systems watch network traffic like a hawk, spotting suspicious activity and blocking threats in real time. They’re like security cameras, but with a few more tricks up their sleeve – they can even automatically lock down your network if they spot anything fishy.

The best IDS/IPS systems are using machine learning to figure out what’s normal and what’s not, catching threats that humans might miss. They’re on the lookout for everything from dodgy login locations to tiny changes in transactions that might be a sign of an account takeover.

ChangeNOW: Security in Practice

Theory is one thing. Implementation is another. ChangeNOW demonstrates how these principles work in the real world.

As a non-custodial exchange, ChangeNOW never holds user funds. By staying non-custodial, they’ve basically removed the ‘bullseye’ from their back—there’s no central vault for hackers to target because they never hold your funds. Your assets flow through quickly, which keeps exposure to a minimum.

But this isn’t just about protecting the end-user; it’s a massive win for partners too. From a B2B perspective, this setup is a game-changer because it:

• Lowers counterparty risk: You don’t have to worry about the exchange itself being drained or compromised.
• Ensures predictable execution: Fewer ‘black swan’ events mean your integrations actually work when you need them to.
• Results in fewer incident escalations: Your support team won’t be flooded with ‘where are my funds’ tickets due to platform-wide breaches.

Non-custodial doesn’t mean ‘hands-off’—it’s a conscious architectural choice to put safety first.

24/7 Support: When something goes wrong—whether it’s a stuck transaction or suspicious activity—users need help immediately. ChangeNOW’s round-the-clock support team acts as a safety net, providing both technical assistance and fraud prevention.

Partnership Security: Working with major wallets and exchanges requires trust on both sides. ChangeNOW helps partners:

• Screen transactions for suspicious activity
• Identify and block illicit funds
• Respond to security incidents
• Maintain compliance with evolving regulations

Proactive Monitoring: Rather than waiting for problems to surface, ChangeNOW actively monitors for emerging threats and vulnerabilities. This means implementing security updates before they’re exploited, not after.

The results speak for themselves: consistent operation without major security incidents in an industry plagued by breaches. This doesn’t happen by luck—it’s the product of treating security as a core feature, not an afterthought.

The Bottom Line: Security is the Product

The crypto industry is currently caught in a tug-of-war. We’ve got massive institutional money coming in, promising the kind of growth we used to only dream about. But on the flip side, we’re up against highly organized criminal syndicates who spend 24/7 looking for a single crack in the armor.

Which side wins? Pretty soon, we will see. History tends to repeat itself, and progress is made when lessons are learnt.

At the end of the day, security isn’t some checklist you hand off to a junior dev. It’s a mindset. In this space, there’s no “oops” button. If you mess up a password or click the wrong link in a DM, your money is gone. Five years of hard work can vanish in about ten seconds of being careless. That’s the brutal reality of irreversibility.

If you’re running a business, please stop treating security like a line item you can trim to save a few bucks. It’s not an ‘extra’—it’s the foundation. If you aren’t investing in proper IAM controls or HSMs, you’re essentially just building a very expensive target for someone else to hit.

Let’s be real: don’t just ‘audit’ things to check a box or hang a certificate on the wall. You need to actually test your people and your stack in the wild. If security is just an afterthought in your budget, you’ve already lost the game; you just haven’t felt the impact yet.

In this industry, security is the only thing that actually matters.