A Cryptocurrency Crime Wave Could Soon Be Hitting Us

Digital currencies had a great year in 2017, but this rise could now spark a huge wave of crypto crime. It should be mentioned that 2017 also had its fair share of controversies as well, for example, the US Securities and Exchange Commission acted to halt a fast-moving ICO fraud. It is no secret that investing in cryptocurrencies is not without its risks, and fraud and hacking pose a severe threat. This problem is incredibly widespread throughout the world, making it difficult for the average person to avoid. Cybercrime has been a high threat right from the very beginning and between 2009, and 2015 nearly thirty-three percent of Bitcoin exchanges were hacked. On top of this, they have faced one off scams and attacks that are often directed at individual investors throughout this time. Virtual currencies are showing no signs of slowing down though, and they are continuing to grow, despite the recent plunge in value, and this is likely to spark more hacker attacks, as they will go to where the money is. They are appealing to such criminals as they are highly profitable, and a single attack can bring in millions of dollars for the hacker. The trouble is that investors can do very little to stop these attacks, and their assets cannot be legally protected, as there is no Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance for cryptocurrencies, which could mean that any money they lose would not be replaced, even if this was down to criminal activity. On top of this, there has been a massive growth in the type of malware that is targeting virtual currencies, and the criminals are mastering new and improved ways of stealing Bitcoins. There are still a number of things that you can do as an investor that will help you to defend your chances of becoming a victim of cybercrime. This includes installing antivirus and antiphishing support, setting up a firewall, protecting internet connections with a VPN, adding two-factor authentication and password managers to safeguard your logins, and using hardware wallets to store your funds. Jason Glass, who is a co-founder of Casaba Security, said; “However, in an age when even well-resourced corporations and government agencies struggle to contain the hacker threat, no one will ever be 100 percent safe. Those who invest in cryptocurrency need to be prepared for losses.” Image Source: Flickr Sponsored by