Grand Theft Crypto: The State of Crypto-Stealing Malware & Other Techniques

[Tipstar]

A recent report developed by cryptocurrency intelligence firm Ciphertrace estimated losses from theft and scams in the first quarter at $356 million with additional fraud losses of $851 million totaling $1.2 billion in total loss. Alongside the report came a study recognizing how the attacks were coming seeing an increase in malware and ransomware attacks.

A few other noticeable ways funds are being taken are through clipboard hijacking, website clones and social engineering. While it makes me positive to know we've figured out ways scammers can creep in - do you think the tech will be strong enough to avoid these?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/grand-theft-crypto-state-cryptocurrency-053700942.html

Clipboard hijacking, website clones and social engineering would never stop unless everyone becomes aware of such activities and takes precaution to stop them from happening.
If people are losing money due to their unsafe and haphazard browsing habit, no one is going to sympathize on them.

[Pumared]

A recent report developed by cryptocurrency intelligence firm Ciphertrace estimated losses from theft and scams in the first quarter at $356 million with additional fraud losses of $851 million totaling $1.2 billion in total loss. Alongside the report came a study recognizing how the attacks were coming seeing an increase in malware and ransomware attacks.

A few other noticeable ways funds are being taken are through clipboard hijacking, website clones and social engineering. While it makes me positive to know we've figured out ways scammers can creep in - do you think the tech will be strong enough to avoid these?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/grand-theft-crypto-state-cryptocurrency-053700942.html

These thefts are usually in people who enter into websites, download suspicious content. Such things help in spreading viruses. So always check before downloading or accepting anything

[jdarren]

Ya it's tough because people always fall into the trap of free money and probably more so in this wild wild west of crypto. I have more confidence knowing cyber security firms like ciphertrace are doing what they can to negate these types of occurrences

[eternalgloom]

The other week there was a company in Belgium that got completely shut down due to another crypto ransomware attack.
I think around 1000 people were technically unemployed for around 7 days or more.

This wasn't the first time something like this hadn't happened, but definitely the most significant attack of its sort.

Just mentioning it because it seems pretty crazy that something like that can happen and have such an impact.

Source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-halts-production-for-days-at-major-airplane-parts-manufacturer/

[bhabygrim]

A recent report developed by cryptocurrency intelligence firm Ciphertrace estimated losses from theft and scams in the first quarter at $356 million with additional fraud losses of $851 million totaling $1.2 billion in total loss. Alongside the report came a study recognizing how the attacks were coming seeing an increase in malware and ransomware attacks.

A few other noticeable ways funds are being taken are through clipboard hijacking, website clones and social engineering. While it makes me positive to know we've figured out ways scammers can creep in - do you think the tech will be strong enough to avoid these?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/grand-theft-crypto-state-cryptocurrency-053700942.html

At least we know how they are doing it so we could do some countermeasure to avoid it,
We are lucky that we didn't fall victim to those hackers and we should be thankful for those information that has been given to us to keep our crypto safe.

[dothebeats]

These hacks and thefts are easily preventable only if people actually know how to take care of their online selves and not do anything rash and plain stupid such as downloading files on questionable websites, let alone visiting shady websites. The numbers would surely not rack up but then again, most people are still gullible to believe everything they see on the internet. As for exchange thefts, that's a completely different part of the equation that needs solving, and I do believe that stricter regulations wouldn't do the trick.

[Ucy]

Don't blame this on blockchain/cryptocurrency.  Blame centralized platforms where most of the thefts occur.
Have you  heard of coins getting stolen from Bitcoin blockchain or other real Blockchain?
Well, you are covered as long as you live the right way on this space

As regards the clipboard hijacking, I have couple of applications that auto-clear my clipboard every few seconds. Guess this will not protect me effectively from the clipboard hijacking but it better than nothing.

[Baofeng]

The other week there was a company in Belgium that got completely shut down due to another crypto ransomware attack.
I think around 1000 people were technically unemployed for around 7 days or more.

This wasn't the first time something like this hadn't happened, but definitely the most significant attack of its sort.

Just mentioning it because it seems pretty crazy that something like that can happen and have such an impact.

Source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-halts-production-for-days-at-major-airplane-parts-manufacturer/

In addition to that, Lake City in Florida paid $500,000 to a hacker/s -  https://www.zdnet.com/article/florida-city-fires-it-employee-after-paying-ransom-demand-last-week/

And then we have a recent Singaporean crypto exchange hack - https://twitter.com/BitrueOfficial/status/1144066874147131392

So those criminals are really stepping up the game and we are still in the middle of the year. So everyone should be very careful not to click any links so that you won't be victimised by this hackers.

[Nasonn]

The problem of crypto theft is one every crypto own should be very careful of, apply extra carefulness when accessing sites, app/softwares, and use reliable crypto wallets.

[lucho1592]

In crypto, huge amounts of money are constantly being stolen, but it’s not worth thinking about crypto being unsafe. After all, fiat is stolen much more, including through fraudulent acts.