The wild journey of cryptocurrencies has not only been influencing people to mine or trade crypto. But, the enigmatic stages behind crypto have also become a significant link for cybercrime activities.
According to the latest report by Interisle Counseling Gathering, illegal activities pertaining to cryptocurrencies have grown by 257% over the past year, with wallets and trades being the most vulnerable to attacks.
Cybercriminals are experiencing exceptional results in their operations, by engaging in techniques similar to methods used in other online monetary crimes on virtual monetary forms.
How is Cryptocurrency the Most Suitable for Cybercrime?
The autonomous, anonymous and permanent attributes of crypto transactions make cryptocurrency ideal for cybercrime activities.
Crypto has emerged as a highly-priced vehicle for threat actors for the following reasons:
1. No Oversight: Fundamental authorities such as banks, or government agencies, which generally play the role of a middleman in financial transactions, do not intervene in crypto transactions.
2. Anonymity of threat actors: Crypto transactions do not transmit any detail that could possibly disclose the hacker in any way, such as names, email addresses, or other background information. There is only one wallet address, which is a collection of otherwise cryptic letters and numbers. Additionally, hackers frequently use numerous wallets to further "wash" transactions.
3. Transactions are permanent: In crypto, money being exchanged cannot be reversed. The transaction is out of an individual's hands, just like using cash. Additionally, hackers can easily flee the scene of cybercrime, like ransomware, without being detected.
With the constant decline in the value of cryptocurrency, cybercriminals who have considerable expertise in ransomware attacks are compelled to reconsider how they collect their payoffs and the amount they could demand.
The crypto crash has as well resulted in the bankruptcy of many online crypto-trade commercial centers, where cybercriminals apparently deal with their cash or payoffs. For an instance, last year, at least 30 more modest dim web trade centers went bankrupt, and later closed down. Hackers still retain the mentality of a conventional financial backer: if the value of a resource starts to decline, they usually cash out rapidly to limit their losses.
Blockchain Paving Way for Advanced Network Protection:
Blockchain technology emerged as a significant founding for Bitcoin over 10 years ago, while it was also largely compared to the cryptocurrencies at that time. However, advanced blockchain application, like Ethereum has become more widely popular, for it has newer market segments such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized, distributed-computing led finance platforms.
This decentralized and consensus-oriented characteristic of Blockchain allows higher resilience to cyberattacks. In the presence of Blockchain, the threat actor will need to acquire control of the majority of nodes to alter ledger transactions, which is extremely difficult and costly, in order to be able to carry out a hack successfully.
Moreover, a domain name server (DNS) that maps IP addresses to a website name can also be moved to a blockchain platform, dispersing resources across various nodes and making it more difficult for the hacker to access the data. Thus, making blockchain systems a technology that could be a game changer in combating future cybercrimes.
Crypto and Cyber Skills Rules the Day
The new generation of tech experts is currently in the forefront to combat cybercrime, with their advanced skillsets and tools that operate a step ahead of threat actors. From becoming a Blockchain Developer, where one can master architectural principles of blockchain and develop apps in a corporate environment, to becoming a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), where you are trained to investigate vulnerabilities in target systems and utilize the same techniques as malicious hackers, one can procure great opportunities to combat cybercrimes in crypto.
