"Anonymous". Crypto Theft/ Money Laundering.

The problems in regards to Crypto theft aren't trivial. In fact, they're so complex that it can take a single PC thousands of years to solve just one, so attackers use malware to hijack computers, unite them in a network and dedicate all or part of their collective processing power to crypto mining. Some recent attacks can even launch mining processes from individual webpages without the user's knowledge.

News emerged overnight of the potential theft of more than US$326 million (A$457.7 million) of Ethereum tokens from a blockchain bridge (which connects two blockchains so cryptocurrency can be exchanged between them). It’s no surprise. Crypto crime has been on the rise – especially since the pandemic began. A less malicious, but also insidious form of cryptocurrency theft is mining malware. This takes advantage of a unique characteristic of many virtual currencies, which is that they can be earned. To do that, people solve complex equations in a process called mining, with rewards in cryptocurrency for every problem they solve.

Crypto mining isn't stealing, but it still has an impact on victims. In addition to the costs of power, large-scale-mining malware infections can slow computers to a crawl. Customer support reps can't access account records on a timely basis and financial transactions may be delayed or cancelled. That's not to mention the productivity drain of having the performance of every computer in your company fall by half.

When the bitcoin cryptocurrency briefly topped $19,000 in value last year, it got the attention of more than just investors and day-traders. It also caught the eye of cyber criminals. They have responded as expected, stealing more than $1.1 billion in cryptocurrency during the past six months. Their weapons of choice include good old-fashioned hacking and new breeds of malware that specialise in stealing from cryptocurrency exchanges, businesses and individual users. Security software firms have estimated that there are 12,000 marketplaces on the dark web selling more than 34,000 forms of this malware at prices beginning at just over one US dollar.

Given the huge run-up in the value of some cryptocurrencies over the last year, businesses may be tempted to invest or start conducting transactions with virtual money. Be aware of – and prepared for – the cyber security risks you'll be taking with a form of currency that's largely unregulated and mostly anonymous.When the bitcoin cryptocurrency briefly topped $19,000 in value, it got the attention of more than just investors and day-traders. It also caught the eye of cyber criminals.

When the bitcoin cryptocurrency briefly topped $19,000 in value last year, it got the attention of more than just investors and day-traders. It also caught the eye of cyber criminals. They have responded as expected, stealing more than $1.1 billion in cryptocurrency during the past six months, according to a new report by Carbon Black. Their weapons of choice include good old-fashioned hacking and new breeds of malware that specialise in stealing from cryptocurrency exchanges, businesses and individual users. Security software firm Carbon Black has estimated that there are 12,000 marketplaces on the dark web selling more than 34,000 forms of this malware at prices beginning at just over one US dollar.

There are two basic approaches to cryptocurrency theft that attackers use to steal from their victims. Unlike a conventional bank account, money owners have the option of transferring funds to a local electronic wallet on a PC or mobile device. In many cases, these private vaults are protected by nothing more than a password. Malware harvests legitimate credentials from a victim's computer to look for those that might unlock the wallet, using the same techniques criminals employ to steal passwords. If a crook gains access to a local wallet, funds can disappear just like that.

Crypto crime is a fast-growing enterprise. The rise of the crypto economy and decentralized finance (or DeFi), coupled with record cryptocurrency prices in 2021, has provided criminals with lucrative opportunities. DeFi’s open-source nature also makes these projects enticing to hackers. Thieves can spend time scouring codes in search of weakness, said Chainalysis, which notes that DeFi protocols need to employ a more thorough approach to security.Hackers are ferreting out larger exploits as decentralized finance (DeFi) becomes more popular. They tend to go after new protocols that haven’t been fully vetted.

Some of the hacks organized are not always done by an individual, however, but a crypto exchange. That's an online platform that enabled cryptocurrency owners to trade virtual currencies with each other or for real cash. There are thousands of such exchanges, and regulatory oversight is light. One of them, a Korean exchange called Coinrail, reported that almost £30 million worth of cryptocurrency was stolen, apparently by an attacker who was able to channel funds from the accounts of law-abiding customers into its own.

That follows upon a much bigger hack in, when Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck said it lost more than £380 million in tokens. The value of bitcoin plummeted 10% in a single day following the Coinrail revelation, dramatising how sensitive the market is to even a small compromise.

🛑DISCLAIMER: I am not a financial advisor . All contents discussed on this blogpost are solely my own personal views and for education/entertainment purposes only . Do your own research and due diligence.