Cryptocurrency security covers theft, fraud, ransomware payments, wallet compromise, and blockchain risks involving digital assets and transactions.
Search across headline titles and summaries.
Background for this topic.
Cryptocurrency is a digital asset secured by cryptography and recorded on a decentralized blockchain ledger. It enables peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries, relying on consensus mechanisms like proof-of-work or proof-of-stake to validate and add transaction blocks. Users control funds through private keys, which are critical for accessing and transferring cryptocurrency.
From an information security perspective, protecting private keys is paramount, as their compromise leads to irreversible theft. Cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet software are frequent targets for hacking, requiring robust security controls and vulnerability management. Additionally, the pseudonymous nature of transactions can facilitate illicit activities, challenging efforts to trace funds and enforce compliance. Defenses include hardware wallets, multi-factor authentication, and secure key management practices to mitigate risks inherent in cryptocurrency operations.
Cybercriminals are sending bogus copyright claims to YouTubers to coerce them into promoting malware and cryptocurrency miners on their videos. [...]
U.S. authorities have seized over $23 million in cryptocurrency linked to the theft of $150 million from a Ripple crypto wallet in January 2024. Investigators believe hackers who breached LastPass in 2022 were behind the attack. [...]
The administrators of the Russian Garantex crypto-exchange have been charged in the United States with facilitating money laundering for criminal organizations and violating sanctions. [...]
The U.S. Secret Service has seized the domain of the sanctioned Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex in collaboration with the Department of Justice's Criminal Division, the FBI, and Europol. [...]
A malicious Python Package Index (PyPI) package named "set-utils" has been stealing Ethereum private keys through intercepted wallet creation functions and exfiltrating them via the Polygon blockchain. [...]
A newly devised "polymorphic" attack allows malicious Chrome extensions to morph into browser extensions, including password managers, crypto wallets, and banking apps, to steal sensitive information. [...]