Blockchain-assisted cyberattacks surge fivefold

Blockchain-assisted cyberattacks have risen more than fivefold since last year, Chainalysis reports, driven by North Korean and Iranian state actors and Russian-speaking criminal groups. Attackers hide malware payloads and command-and-control pointers on public blockchains, making takedowns extremely difficult. Daily malicious blockchain writes jumped 440%, from 2.06 to 11.1, a rise Chainalysis links to open-weight Chinese AI tools lowering the technical barrier to entry.