The role of crypto-currency in cybercrime.
The first crypto-currency appeared in 2009 when Bitcoin was born. Since then, numerous others have entered the market. The market for crypto-currencies has been incredibly volatile and, at its peak in 2017, one bitcoin was worth over $11,200, although it is now suffering from sustained losses in 2018.1, 2 These peaks and troughs have made crypto-currency value a popular media topic and hackers too have taken notice.
The market for crypto-currencies has been incredibly volatile and these peaks and troughs have made crypto-currency value a popular media topic. Hackers, too, have taken notice.
We have seen a recent sharp rise in crypto-jacking attacks, exploiting the power of victims’ computers to mine crypto-currency. And alternative currencies also play a major role in ransomware attacks, being the payment method of choice. The chief defence, says Aaron Higbee of Cofense, is education. Phishing is a key element in these attacks and businesses need to help their employees to spot phishing attacks.
Computer Fraud & Security Bulletin, 2018 (2018) 13-15. doi:10.1016/S1361-3723(18)30064-2
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See also
- Software Exorcism: A Handbook for Debugging and Optimizing Legacy Code by Bill Blunden (2003)
- Hormones and the Endocrine System: Textbook of Endocrinology by Bernhard Kleine (2016)
- Genetics: A Conceptual Approach 6e by Benjamin A. Pierce (2017)
- A Functional Approach to Java by Ben Weidig (2022)
- Calculus of variations and optimal control by Amol Sasan (2005)