No one can deny that cryptocurrency is one of the fastest-growing investment trends of the last twenty years. What started out as something that seemed like a joke very quickly transcended into an area that spawned dozens of new millionaires. People made an absolute fortune in the crypto market when it experienced its biggest boom, and there are lots of things to like about these investments.
Nevertheless, as crypto has become more popular, it has also opened itself to a range of cyber threats. In this blog post, we’ll look at some of the main cybersecurity issues surrounding the world of crypto right now.
Untrustworthy crypto exchanges
People need ways to trade cryptocurrency, which is where crypto exchanges come into play. You have plenty of very trustworthy and reliable sites out there, like https://swyftx.com/nz/, that are proven to be good places to invest. A very quick Google search will present you with a list of the most trusted exchanges to use, and it’s important that you only ever use them.
Why?
Because there are also some exchanges that pose a cyber threat. What tends to happen is people invest in Bitcoin or other crypto tokens, and the exchange takes their money but doesn’t actually give them their assets. It will say on the person’s account that they own x amount of Bitcoin or whatever, but they actually don’t. The exchange owners are pocketing the cash and then either keeping it all themselves or re-investing it in other cryptocurrency exchanges to make more money.
It’s a classic Ponzi scheme that’s really difficult to avoid. All someone needs is a good looking website, and they can pass as a legitimate crypto exchange because the industry has no regulations. They often get away with it because they make more money using other people’s funds that they can actually pay their users when withdrawals are activated. It’s still a scam because they have taken your money and used it to make more money, even if they give you back what you invested. But, more often than not, you don’t get your money back and they close the site and disappear from the internet forever.
Rug pull scams
Another common cybersecurity threat in the world of crypto is a rug pull scam. This is given its name as it feels like you have the rug pulled from under you when you fall victim to it. Many scammers will use the popularity of cryptocurrency to create new tokens for people to invest in.
From here, they rally to get the token boosted and see it rise dramatically in value. Unfortunately, a lot of people investing in crypto hate missing out on the next best thing. This stems from when Bitcoin was only just starting out and it was worth barely anything before now being worth around $43,000. Nobody wants to miss the next Bitcoin, so they all invest their money in this brand new token that looks like it could be great.
However, the scam concludes when the creators draw in money from investors, then instantly stop trading and run away. The token is worth nothing, and a lot of money can be lost. A recent scam like this happened with Squid Game token, which ended up earning a quick $2.5 million for the scammers.
These scams continue to be popular online because of the way the crypto industry works. There is still so little that people know about this world. When there’s the possibility of a really good token coming out, everyone dives in to avoid missing out. It begs the question, should there be some rules on who can create crypto tokens? But then that goes against the decentralized aspect of cryptocurrency – it’s tricky!
Crypto wallet hacks
One of the good things about cryptocurrency and cybersecurity is that you can use crypto wallets to protect your bank account. When trading, you can set up a crypto wallet to store your assets in, meaning you don’t need to have a bank account connected to your trading account. It means that nobody can see your bank details, protecting you from being defrauded or having money stolen.
On the other hand, this does open a new avenue for hackers to step in and do their dirty work. Many people are getting their crypto wallets hacked by cybercriminals. People will steal their cryptocurrency and then use it to make money. It’s an issue because the security surrounding things like crypto wallets is still in its infancy. Hopefully, as we learn more about this world, cybersecurity can adapt and make these wallets more secure to prevent hacking.
Cryptojacking
This is a very interesting look at cybersecurity and cryptocurrency. Unlike some of the other concerns we’ve looked at, this has nothing to do with stealing money from victims. Instead, cryptojacking uses malware to install cryptocurrency mining code on an unsuspecting victim’s PC. From here, the hacker basically uses this PC to mine for cryptocurrency, making themselves a fortune.
For the PC owner, no money is lost, and there are no viruses present on the PC. But, what can happen is that both CPU and GPU performance can significantly slow down. This is because loads of excess heat are generated when a PC is mining for cryptocurrency, which could cause your system to overheat. It is also believed that a lot of graphics cards are damaged by doing this, meaning they don’t last as long as normal.
Ransomware attacks fuelled by cryptocurrency
Lastly, a lot of ransomware attacks are now being fuelled by cryptocurrency. Hackers demand payment in the form of Bitcoin and other tokens because it is harder for people to track where the money is going.
What can you do to deal with crypto cyber threats?
The good news is that you can take a few steps to protect yourself from the cybersecurity threats all around us in this industry.
For starters, always be wary of potential scams. Look things up before you register for any new tokens or choose an exchange to use. See if there are reports of it being a scam before, and also look at the security features an exchange will use to protect you. Two-factor authentication should be the bare minimum they provide. If they don’t have this, your account and wallet can very easily be hacked.
Knowledge is power, so, learning about cryptocurrency can protect you from a lot of the scams out there too. Also, take general cybersecurity measures to secure your PC from malware threats. This can prevent instances of cryptojacking, which won’t technically make you lose money, but it will be an inconvenience that can damage your PC.
If you have a business or set up your own website, you also need strong cybersecurity measures to avoid things like ransomware attacks. It is common for hackers to take down a website and demand payment in the form of cryptocurrency. If you have a good security system that can detect and block threats, you’ll prevent this from happening. It’s definitely more likely to happen to a business website than a personal one, but you should always take cybersecurity seriously.
In conclusion, there are definitely cyber threats within the cryptocurrency world. But, there are also threats within the general online world as well. It’s just that cryptocurrency is still a fairly new concept that many people don’t know much about. So, this opens the door for hackers and cybercriminals to take advantage of many unsuspecting victims. Empower yourself with knowledge, and focus on improving cybersecurity to avoid any threats.
