Colleagues, the on-going
debate regarding which type of crypto wallet is more secure continues with no clear
consensus – hardware, software, clod-based and paper wallets. This debate has
returned to the spotlight given the recent security breach of BitPay’s Copay (software) Wallet. Copay claims its mobile The Copay app securely
stores multiple, distinct bitcoin wallets, allowing both business and
privacy-conscious users to keep funds carefully separated. GitHub issued a memo to users reporting an ‘event-stream` dependency attack steals wallets from users of copay. For details take
a look at the YCombinator news feed on this attack. The bottom line: For
individual digital asset traders software wallets are immensely more convenient
than hardware and paper wallets, however, they are far more prone to cyber-attacks
– quantum password processing, malware and adware … just to name a few. If you
do use a software wallet we highly recommend using any and all security
features at both the application and OS levels. The Copay breach reminds us
that the cryptocurrencies are no more secure than the weakest link in the
crypto ecosystem. Share a comment while
visiting us today! Lawrence – Cyber
Security Defender (https://cybersecuritydefender.blogspot.com/)
Colleagues, Bittrex, BitMex and now Binance have banned Iranian
cryptocurrency traders in an effort to avoid penalties in the wake of US economic sanctions.
The exchanges issue a warning to users based in Iran to withdraw their funds or
face the confiscation of their assets. There are surely legitimate crypto
traders in the Persian state, however, the goal is to place an embargo on any
state-sponsored entities from circumventing US trade sanctions. Binance has
moved from China to Japan, while BitMex HQ is in Hong Kong and Bittrex is
located in the US. Exchanges, whether with large or modest trading volumes,
face penalties for aiding and abetting Iranian
actors from participating – even on the margins – in the global economy.
Will other crypto exchanges follow their lead? We believe the strategies of
other crypto platforms will depend on the rigor of direct or indirect US
penalties. Post a comment while visiting us today! Lawrence
– Cyber
Security Defender (https://cybersecuritydefender.blogspot.com/)
Colleagues, East Asia has become a hotbed for multi-level
marketing schemes which exploit the allure of and poor transparency of
cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin. Whether this past May in China
($47m) or more recently in South
Korea ($20m) and Japan
($68m), crypto fraud schemes are running rampant across the region. Bottom
line: Despite many efforts by credible members of the global crypto ecosystem,
digital such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and others, are wrought with the
potential for scams and related cybercrimes. Government enforcement entities
such as China’s Ministry
of Public Security or the US SEC only have the bandwidth
to track and prosecute a small minority of crypto fraud cases. We do not
foresee a significant reduction in crypto cybercrimes until government agencies
have both the cyber tools and manpower to launch a counter-offensive which is
likely to be 2-3+ years in the future. Post a comment while visiting us today! Lawrence
– Cyber Security Defender
(https://cybersecuritydefender.blogspot.com/)
Colleagues,
the world’s thirty-eight largest crypto exchange Gate.io was successfully
hacked via the injection of code into StatCounter’s
URI “myaccount/withdraw/BTC”. Reported by security
firm ESET WeLiveSecurity
indicated that although Gate.io is the only known crypto exchange effected, all
of StatCounter’s some 2 million customer sites are at risk. For readers with a
programming background the code was injected via the Dean Edwards JS packer in
the middle of the script. We assume that economic gain is the chief motive
although the ESET report did not provide corroborating details. This cyber-attack
raises two questions. First, how susceptible are URIs (uniform
resource identifiers) to injections via the Dean Edwards packer? And second, how
many more web sites which use StatCounter – a competitor to Google Analytics –
are effected? We will continue to research answers to both questions. Post a comment while visiting us today! Lawrence
– Cyber Security Defender
(https://cybersecuritydefender.blogspot.com/)
