Chainalysis announced in a blog post on Wednesday that it had launched a new 24/7 rapid response program to support organizations affected by crypto-related exploits or attacks. The program, called Crypto Incident Response, will pair organizations with a dedicated team of experts that will work side-by-side with the cybercrime victims to help them trace and label stolen funds, liaise with law enforcement, and propose an asset recovery counsel.
Chainalysis investigators have worked with organizations in the private and public sectors on hundreds of cryptocurrency incidents and have helped solve some of the most high-profile cyber-criminal cases. They noticed the growth in cryptocurrency’s legitimate use. Chainalysis investigators have worked with organizations in the private and public sectors on hundreds of cryptocurrency incidents and have helped solve some of the most high-profile cyber-criminal cases.
Recently, certain types of illicit cyber abuse – including stealing funds via hacking and ransomware – are at all-time highs. This presents national security concerns, degrades trust in cryptocurrency, and victimizes innocent people worldwide. Attacks are increasing in frequency and severity, presenting a significant barrier to building trust in cryptocurrency.
Per a crypto crime report published by the firm in January, crypto-related cybercrime incidents hit record highs in 2021, with $14 billion transferred through illicit transactions. Notably, scamming revenue totaled around $7.8 billion over the year, $2.8 billion of which reportedly came from so-called “rug pulls”—a scam where crypto founders unexpectedly leave their projects, withdraw the liquidity away from decentralized exchanges, and run away with the funds. Theft, on the other hand, totaled roughly $3.2 billion—72% of which accounted for cryptocurrency stolen from DeFi protocols.
Chainalysis launched its Crypto Incident Response Program to assist organizations in their times of need, help bring bad actors to justice, and demonstrate that crypto is not the asset class of anonymity and crime.
Chainalysis Crypto Incident Response Program
Chainalysis is a blockchain data platform that provides data, software, services, and research to government agencies, exchanges, financial institutions, and insurance and cybersecurity companies in over 70 countries. Their data powers investigation, compliance, and market intelligence software that has been used to solve some of the world’s most high-profile criminal cases and safely grow consumer access to cryptocurrency. Chainalysis powers compliance, regulatory, and investigative software that detects and prevents activities on the blockchain like money laundering, terrorist financing, child exploitation, ransomware, and more.
The Chainalysis investigators designed the Chainalysis Crypto Incident Response program to streamline the engagement process so that no time is wasted, no matter where the victim is located. In cyber-crimes, time is of the essence, and immediately tracing and labeling funds in the Chainalysis platform can make the difference in preventing bad actors from cashing out their ill-gotten gains.
How does it work?
Here’s how it works:
- After an incident such as a hack, ransomware attack, code exploit, or flash loan attack occurs and cryptocurrency funds are either demanded or stolen, the victim can contact the 24/7 Chainalysis Crypto Incident Response hotline.
- Communication is initiated with Chainalysis’ 24/7 hotline protocol.
- Chainalysis assigns a dedicated team of world-class investigators, cryptocurrency operators, and data scientists to work alongside the organization.
- Chainalysis dedicated and experienced team of experts will deploy advanced investigative capabilities to work around the clock and side-by-side with the victim organization to overcome sophisticated obfuscation techniques, identify funds and label them accordingly.
- If needed, the Chainalysis team can help liaise with law enforcement and asset recovery counsel and provides expert witness testimony.
