crypto-accelerated-cybercrime

Impact Of The Crypto Accelerated Cybercrime & Its Preventive Measures

In the past few years, the popularity of cryptocurrency has been reaching new heights. It has attracted millions of investors globally. The present success of digital currencies in the world market has convinced even more people to invest in digital assets. As cryptocurrency is welcoming more users, there has been an increase in crypto accelerated cybercrime. 

Cryptocurrency and cyber crime are inevitable. Over the years, thousands of crypto investors have been the victim of enormous scams. According to reports, the loss of cryptocurrency from cybercrime in 2020 has amounted to $1.7 billion. Cyber criminals take the help of both modern and traditional technology tactics to reach their aims that are based on cryptocurrencies transacted through a database system that is online known as the blockchain technology. 

Bitcoin and other cryptos are the prime aims for the cyber criminal to steal money from big scale companies as they pay huge sums to take back their control over their computers and company data. 

How Has Crypto Accelerated Cybercrime?

Mining of crypto is an important step that ensures that the transaction is secure and the blockchain network is unhindered. There has been an increase in the number of crypto jacking attacks that use the power of the victims’ computers to mine digital currencies. Another method other than scams is ransomware attacks. For instance, criminals will hack the system of the business or the organization. By the time the entity realizes its site has been attacked, it will not be available anymore. Hence reversing the process will not work. The ransom demand will come to the company through a message or mail that will provide a crypto address where the payment must be delivered for the company to regain access to their computers. B bitcoin is the most widely used crypto for ransomware attacks. 

The decentralization feature of digital currencies gives the malware players an excellent chance to perform malicious activities. They also hack the trading exchanges and platforms and steal money. 

Crypto criminals address the needs or greed of the people by promising them big returns. The founders of the fake digital currency “OneCoin” scammed its investors an amount of $3.8 billion by convincing them that these are real crypto. These malicious actors avail digital assets to keep their illegitimate actions under the radar.  

Why Do Criminals Take The Help Of Crypto For Cybercrime?

Earlier there were several ways in which ransomware payments were delivered. These methods include money transfers using financial services by Western Union, prepaid gift cards, and also through the process of wiring funds into the bank accounts that are withdrawn quickly by the criminals. 

But with the advent of the digital ledger system, known as the blockchain, that provides anonymity the work of these cyber criminals has become easier. 

Decentralization is a ban and a boon. It is the main reason for the attraction of criminals towards cryptocurrencies. It is unsecured and can easily get lost or stolen and is not insured by any authority or governing body. Digital currencies like Bitcoin are anonymous, hence it is the perfect element to conduct scams or other fraudulent activities. 

These processes include tumbling and also coin mixing which combines tainted currencies to hide their origins. Investors in the present digital currency environment should research and analyze where you are putting your money. 

How To Protect Crypto Accelerated Cybercrime?

Now that you know how has crypto accelerated cybercrime let us look at some of the preventive measures that you can take to safeguard yourself from cybercrime 2021 and can also save your crypto? Predicting cybercrime beforehand is not easy. So you will have to continue to take these safety measures. 

24*7 Monitoring

Cybercriminals often activate themselves at 3.00 am on a Sunday or on holidays. That is the reason you will need to invest in a 24*7 Security Operation Center (SOC). This SOC will monitor security on a continuous basis along with the threat profile and any abnormal activity in your environment. Whether you create or outsource an internal incident response team, SOC will allow you to evaluate the present threat scenario and will increase your readiness to react if an attack takes place. 

Security Training

Schedule and conduct training related to cyber security for all your employees. This is the only way to make them understand the seriousness of cyber threats and how your business can be protected. The training should include identification of scams, and the immediate actions that need to be taken. 

Security Metrics

If you wish to protect your organization you should know what is happening around your environment. Begin by establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPI) like your patch and infection rate to monitor the performance of cyber security. Along with that ensure that your team is in a constant loop related to the plans that need to be undertaken if there is a cyber attack. Crypto accelerated cybercrime needs to stop as soon as possible. 

Conclusion

Ransomware attacks are on the rise. This crypto accelerated cybercrime is becoming a real threat to any organization. It is high time that the business entities prepare themselves and their employees to take care of any cyber attacks smartly and efficiently.

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