{"id":116706,"date":"2021-07-06T19:52:47","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T14:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=116706"},"modified":"2021-07-06T19:52:47","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T14:22:47","slug":"how-cryptocurrency-turbocharged-the-cybercrime-racket-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/how-cryptocurrency-turbocharged-the-cybercrime-racket-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"How cryptocurrency turbocharged the cybercrime racket: Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Source<\/strong>: <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"http:\/\/business-standard.com\/article\/markets\/explained-how-cryptocurrency-turbocharged-the-cybercrime-racket-121070501406_1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Business Standard<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Relevance:<\/strong> Cryptocurrency is an emerging sector. As a UPSC aspirant one needs have knowledge about its pros and cons.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis<\/strong>: Use of cryptocurrencies for ransomware attacks by hackers and related challenges.<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\"><strong>Must Read<\/strong>: <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/what-is-a-ransomware\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What is a ransomware?<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h5><strong>How is crypto used in cybercrime?<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>A typical ransomware attack on a company or organization might proceed like this: Executives realise their business website is down or systems inaccessible, and administrator overrides don\u2019t work. A ransom demand arrives via email, providing a Bitcoin address where the payment must go if the company wants its systems operational again, along with a deadline. The victim calls up the Bitcoin address, which is 26 to 34 characters in length, when signing onto a cryptocurrency\u00a0exchange to make the deposit.<\/p>\n<h5><strong>What makes crypto attractive to criminals?<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>The <strong>anonymity<\/strong> built into the <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answeredwhat-is-blockchain-technology-discuss-its-advantages-and-potential-applications\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">blockchain<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, which forms the foundation of cyber\u00adcurren\u00adcies, can be utilized through a variety of ways.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Coin mixer<\/strong>: A ransom paid in Bitcoin can be swiftly run through a so-called cryptocurrency mixer or coin mixer, which obscures the trail of ownership by pooling it with other people\u2019s holdings. (<em>While the practice itself is not considered illegal, mixer operators can get into trouble if found to have laundered illegally gotten money.)<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong>Conversion to a different cryptocurrency<\/strong>: Another option is to convert the ransom payment to a different cryptocurrency via a crypto exchange. So-called money mules <em>(a person who transfers illegally obtained money between different payment accounts) <\/em>can be recruited on dark web forums and directed to withdraw Bitcoins out of certain accounts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In 2020, victims paid more than $406 mill\u00adion in crypto\u00adcurr\u00adency to attackers, accord\u00ading to blockchain analysis firm Chainanalysis Inc. This year, groups had taken at least $81 million from victims as of May, the firm said. Hackers who specialize in ransomware are said to be actively seeking out targets that have insurance.<\/p>\n<h5><strong>Can payments made in cryptocurrency be traced?<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>Yes, at least at first. All Bitcoin transact\u00adions, while anonymous, are available for anyone to see, so someone tracking a par\u00adticular Bitcoin wallet can observe when cash arrives. But accessing the money inside the wallet requires a private key, essentially a password, and that\u2019s some\u00adthing ransomware groups do not normally share with anyone outside their operation.<\/p>\n<h5><strong>What steps can be taken?<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>Regulation is the key. In April, the Ransomware Task Force, a private-public partnership created by the Institute for Security and Technology, published an 81-page report with recommendations for how governments can protect against and deal with ransomware attacks.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The group urged governments to <strong>extend Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating Financing of Terrorism (CFT) requirements<\/strong> \u2014 which national and international authorities enforce against banks around the world \u2014 to <strong>crypto exchanges, kiosks<\/strong> (crypto\u2019s version of automated teller machines) and <strong>over-the-counter trading desks<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Calls to ban Bitcoin altogether have been quieted by the currency\u2019s gradual acceptance by the financial industry.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Terms to know<\/span>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/what-is-a-coin-mixer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>What is a coin mixer?<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Business Standard Relevance: Cryptocurrency is an emerging sector. As a UPSC aspirant one needs have knowledge about its pros and cons. Synopsis: Use of cryptocurrencies for ransomware attacks by hackers and related challenges. Must Read: What is a ransomware? How is crypto used in cybercrime? A typical ransomware attack on a company or organization&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/how-cryptocurrency-turbocharged-the-cybercrime-racket-explained\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">How cryptocurrency turbocharged the cybercrime racket: Explained<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10328,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[8345,8343,8344,6401,2475,483,2880,229],"class_list":["post-116706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-coin-mixer","tag-crypto","tag-cryptocurrencies","tag-cyber","tag-cyber-security","tag-gs3","tag-ransomware","tag-st","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1700560023},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116706\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}