Continuous Theft

Definition ∞ Continuous theft describes a prolonged series of unauthorized asset removals from a digital wallet or protocol, often occurring subtly over time. This type of illicit activity typically involves an attacker gaining persistent access through a compromised private key or a smart contract vulnerability. Instead of a single large exploit, smaller amounts are repeatedly siphoned off, making detection more difficult. Such sustained drain events can result in significant cumulative losses for victims.
Context ∞ Continuous theft is a critical concern in digital asset security, particularly for decentralized finance protocols and personal crypto holdings. These incidents often highlight weaknesses in security audits or user key management practices. Detecting continuous theft requires advanced monitoring tools and vigilant transaction analysis. Preventing such ongoing compromises necessitates immediate revocation of compromised permissions and robust security updates.