Technology has progressed through time, and today everything that appeared impossible a couple of years ago has turned out to be a reality. One can now get services, meals, and just much anything else online without ever leaving your house. It’s a clear indication that cash payments are becoming obsolete. To top up the wireless payments such as Google or Apple Pay (which still require a banking account or card, i.e., real currency), cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are becoming increasingly popular.
The fundamental advantage of bitcoin is that it does not rely on banks to authenticate transactions, instead of relying on blockchain technology, which uses a peer-to-peer system in which money is sent directly from sender to receiver. The term “crypto” confirms the use of encryption to safeguard all transactional data and ensure the validity of different transactions. Because there is no centralized location for keeping the data and it is encrypted, it is deemed tough to attack.
Before investing in crypto currencies, one must take cybersecurity courses to protect your personal data, and keep your knowledge up to date by attending topical workshops, lectures, watching trends, and reading cybersecurity news.
Unfortunately, bitcoin is not totally secure because your funds are housed in digital wallets, which are far more vulnerable to hacking than blockchain technology.
Here are the top five ways your crypto currency could be hacked:
1) Scamming
The most common method of stealing Bitcoin is to force people to give up their access. It’s easy to make respectable websites look almost authentic and genuine to people who merely want to swap Bitcoin by forging them.
Phishing “confirmation” emails (here’s how legitimate confirmation emails should appear) or “possible hack” emails are sometimes sent to potential targets and contain links to bogus websites where you must enter the authentication data that will be taken from you.
Before entering any sensitive information, double-check the domain name (for example, http://binnance.net/ instead of https://binance.com/) and SSL certificate (the small padlock in the address bar).
2) Putting SMS verification at risk
This type of assault is usually directed towards those who are involved in Bitcoin transactions. The major goal of turning on 2FA via mobile phones, as is common, is to intercept these SMS verification communications. They can be obtained using a variety of means, including wiretapping, SIM-card cloning, and vhishing (also known as voice phishing) to either validate harmful transactions or “recover” access to the crypto wallet.
3) Malicious software
When it comes to crypto attacks, malware infections are still one of the most common hacking methods. Infecting the device with keyloggers to steal passwords and PINs you enter, injecting cross-scripting injections into web pages so that when legitimate users enter it, they are either redirected to malicious websites that are sometimes undetectable in a browser to steal sensitive information or downloading malware and ransomware to their devices.
4) Applications for mobile devices
Unfortunately, due to poor architecture and security backdoors, not all crypto trading mobile applications are secure, making them accessible to most assaults such as man-in-the-middle attacks or data leakage as API keys and client sensitive information are stored in unencrypted databases. Hacking mobile apps can have a variety of goals, ranging from brute-force attacks to guessing PINs to doing illicit acts on your behalf, such as influencing market positions by creating demand or lowering positions for certain cryptocurrencies.
5) Theft of secret keys
You’ll need a pair of keys: public and private, to make any financial transactions with cryptocurrencies. The private one is solely available to its owner and serves as a digital signature that allows a user to complete all transactions.
The private key is verified using the public key. The private key is kept in the crypto wallet, and if a user loses it, they will be unable to access their funds. If someone obtains the private key, they will be able to simply transfer all of your funds to their wallets, and because crypto transactions are nearly impossible to track, the money will be lost forever.
As a result, hackers employ a variety of methods to steal the keys, including browser extensions, programs with spell checkers, and common system flaws. Hot wallets are connected to the Internet and function on a centralized system, which is a lucrative market for them.
Cold wallets are, on the other hand, not connected to the Internet and are normally kept as distinct hardware devices. They are thought to be a more secure alternative, but if you lose them, you will lose all of your digital possessions as well.
Final Thoughts
The ability to instantly quadruple your assets has sparked a surge in interest in bitcoin. The chance to generate fast money is usually accompanied by hazards and problems that one must be aware of.
We have to deal with the constant market volatility as well as cybercriminal dangers here. Cryptocurrencies are attractive among hackers because they have no state regulation (meaning their value is determined by the demand-supply process rather than official choices), faster transaction speeds, and more confidentiality.
The good news is that each revealed attack is promptly fixed by the affected platforms; the bad news is that when new technologies develop on the Internet, hackers gain additional ways to penetrate them; therefore, you must be extra cautious to keep your crypto assets safe.
