Wherever there is money, it is almost a given that there will be hacking attempts to steal it and one of the most popular methods of keeping your transactions secret has been cryptocurrency. This is a type of ‘virtual money’ that can be spent anywhere in the world and there are a number of cryptocurrency companies that have taken advantage of the secrecy aspect of both investing and spending in this vertical as a way to hedge against potential economic disasters. One of the main attractions of cryptocurrency has been the reassurance of encryption and protection methods against identity reveals. Around the globe, Bitcoin has been elevated as the single company to spend with, and members received a major shock when they found out that hackers breached a Bitcoin system and stole over $64 million.
Many people view virtual money as insecure, however, organisations such as Bitcoin have designed their platform so that it is one of the most secure available. The problem actually exists in the fact that individuals “using” Bitcoin don’t truly understand how it works and when they set themselves up in Bitcoin, they leave themselves open to vulnerability. Use the example of what occurred a number of years ago with Apple iCloud. Reports came through that it had been breached, but in reality it had not. Users had set up their email with easily configured passwords and the hackers simply discovered them and logged into the accounts.
“Da Vinci CyberSecurity group are experts at assisting our clients in protecting themselves against all types of security invasions. We diligently work to educate, inform and advise so that you comprehend how to set up the highest levels of security in your company as well as making use of all avenues of security in setting up any Bitcoin or other virtual cryptocurrency accounts. We are also counsellors that offer consultation services so that you are aware of the organisations that are illegitimate.”
Da Vinci CyberSecurity
In the case of the Bitcoin breach, CNBC listed an article and video that covered the devious methods that cybercriminals use to access Bitcoin accounts:
“Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, added about 1.9 million new users in the last two months. In the same period, Blockchain.com, the leading digital wallet to store cryptocurrencies, saw its users grow just slightly less than that.
Many are newcomers, unaware of the risks and security holes in the complicated yet lucrative world of cryptocurrency, making them easy prey for hackers and cyberthiefs [sic].
One common crime that’s carried out on cryptocurrency investors is the phone-porting attack. Hackers snoop around social media, looking for cryptocurrency conversations in which investors post their phone and email for easy contact. Then, posing as the victim, they call up the phone provider in an attempt to fool the customer service representative into transferring the phone number to a device they control.”
The in-depth levels of security protection that are required may seem like it’s overwhelming and it is this condition alone that has not only kept people in the situation of skepticism but has deterred many investors away from putting their hard-earned cash into cryptocurrency sources. The truth is that Bitcoin indeed offers the ability to spend as well as invest in a highly encrypted and secure manner, but it takes a bit of education to ensure that you are using every level of protection to keep the hackers out.
Sources:
http://www.businessinsider.com/nicehash-bitcoin-wallet-hacked-contents-stolen-in-security-breach-2017-12
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/02/heres-how-to-protect-your-bitcoin-and-ethereum-from-hacking.html
http://fortune.com/2017/12/08/bitcoin-theft/
