Cybercrimes against cryptocurrencies continue to soar and pose a primary threat to giant institutions of cryptocurrencies, individuals, and governments worldwide. The whole world talks about bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technology, however, no one seems to talk about the high probability of loss and cyber threats.
In the first half of 2022, malicious actors have successfully captured nearly $2 billion worth of cryptocurrencies, a 60% rise from last year. There are various reasons why cryptocurrencies are attacked by cybercriminals, often and extensively.
SonicWall published a report that disclosed that cryptojacking and ransomware attacks had dropped in the latter half of 2019. Cyber intelligence further added that the drastic drop in the number of crypto-jacking cases happened because of the closing down of Coinhive.
However, it led cyber attackers to turn to more targeted attack vectors with an increase in specialized malware attacks to steal digital currencies.
While some cybersecurity organizations are showing their interest in slowing down the crypto market would lead to a slowdown in cybercrime, this is not possible, and the risks and threats associated with it will remain high. Even some trends indicate that the crypto-crime problem may grow worse in the coming years.
According to the technical data, cryptocurrency exchanges, personal wallets, and platforms are primary targets of cryptohackers since they deal in large volumes of virtual money.
The research shows that from June 2021 to June 2022, crypto platforms witnessed a loss of an estimated amount of $44 billion.
Cyberthreats exploited unsecured wallets, SIM card jacking, and stealing recovery phrases and passwords.
Furthermore, the profile of the cyber incident shows that cryptocurrency ATMs are currently targeted by cryptohackers. There were approximately 1,500 cases of crypto ATM fraud last year reported in which hackers captured $28 million, said the FBI.
Nevertheless, reports also confirmed that State-sponsored cryptohackers regularly target crypto firms and the stolen money is being funded for financing terrorist activities and war crimes. Cryptocurrency is also the de facto currency of the Dark Web, where virtual currency is traded for various illicit activities.
How can you protect your system and your funds from being compromised?
- Educate yourself and your workforce about the threats and methods of protecting your system.
- It is always advisable to do business with exchanges and marketplaces that follow proper regulations and security practices.
- Organizations should follow multi-layered defense protection and have the proper technical defenses in place when it comes to emergencies because cyberattacks can impact even the most security-savvy organizations.
