CommunitySubmission-Author:WhoTookMyCrypto.com
2017wasaremarkableyearforthecryptocurrencyindustryastheirrapidincreaseinvaluationspropelledthemintomainstreammedia.Unsurprisingly,thisgarneredthemimmenseinterestfromboththegeneralpublicaswellascybercriminals.Therelativeanonymityofferedbycryptocurrencieshasmadethemafavouriteamongstcriminalswhooftenusethemtobypasstraditionalbankingsystemsandavoidfinancialsurveillancefromregulators.
Giventhatpeoplearespendingmoretimeontheirsmartphonesthandesktops,itisthusnotsurprisingthatcybercriminalshavealsoturnedtheirattentiontothem.Thefollowingdiscussionhighlightshowscammershavebeentargetingcryptocurrencyusersthroughtheirmobiledevices,alongwithafewstepsthatuserscantaketoprotectthemselves.
Fakecryptocurrencyapps
Fakecryptocurrencyexchangeapps
Themostwell-knownexampleofafakecryptocurrencyexchangeappisprobablytheoneofPoloniex.PriortothelaunchoftheirofficialmobiletradingappinJuly2018,GooglePlaywasalreadylistingseveralfakePoloniexexchangeapps,whichwereintentionallydesignedtobefunctional.ManyusersthatdownloadedthosefraudulentappshadtheirPoloniexlogincredentialscompromised,andtheircryptocurrencieswerestolen.SomeappsevenwentastepfurtherrequestingthelogincredentialsofusersGmailaccounts.Itisimportanttohighlightthatonlyaccountswithouttwo-factorauthentication(2FA)werecompromised.
Ripple CEO：Ripple与MoneyGram使用XRP结算数十亿美元汇款:MoneyGram首席执行官Alex Holmes最近在接受CNN采访时谈到公司与Ripple的合作关系：“我们与Ripple已经合作大约18个月，背后的想法是推动真正的创新，看看我们能如何帮助拓展区块链的全球利用。”Holmes强调了加密货币XRP提供实时结算的重要性。“跨境汇款的能力实际上受到我们实时结算能力的影响。我们的客户正在寻找实时付款。如果你仔细想想，这笔钱必须在交易开始前就存在。”他接着提到，获得流动性对该行业来说是“变革性的”，因为它确保了最快的交易速度。
Ripple首席执行官Brad Garlinghouse在推特评论双方合作结果时指出，在加密货币XRP的帮助下，已经在全球范围内结算数十亿美元。据悉，自去年开始试行加密货币汇款后，MoneyGram目前在全球五个汇款通道使用基于XRP的按需流动性（ODL）。（U.Today）[2020/12/17 15:32:02]
Thefollowingstepscanhelpprotectyouagainstsuchscams.
Checktheexchange’sofficialwebsitetoverifyiftheyindeedofferamobiletradingapp.Ifso,usethelinkprovidedontheirwebsite.Readthereviewsandratings.Fraudulentappsoftenhavemanybadreviewswithpeoplecomplainingaboutgettingscammed,somakesuretocheckthembeforeyoudownload.However,youshouldalsobescepticalofappsthatpresentperfectratingsandcomments.Anylegitimateapphasitsfairshareofnegativereviews.Checktheappdeveloperinformation.Lookforwhetheralegitimatecompany,emailaddress,andwebsiteareprovided.Youshouldalsoperformanonlinesearchontheinformationprovidedtoseeiftheyarereallyrelatedtotheofficialexchange.Checkthenumberofdownloads.Thedownloadcountshouldalsobeconsidered.Itisunlikelythatahighlypopularcryptocurrencyexchangewouldhaveasmallnumberofdownloads.Activate2FAonyouraccounts.Althoughnot100%secure,2FAismuchhardertobypassandcanmakeahugedifferenceinprotectingyourfunds,evenifyourlogincredentialsarephished.Fakecryptocurrencywalletapps
ZB CEO Omar：ZB今年会重点在平台的合规化和全球化上持续发力:据官方消息，新加坡金融管理局（MAS）正式公布关于支付服务经营牌照的豁免企业名单，包括ZB、Coinbase、币安、Upbit、Pionex等近 200 家公司均可在正式下达牌照前以豁免状态合法运营。ZB CEO Omar 表示，安全稳健经营了七年的ZB在2020年的战略重点：合规化和全球化。除了布局马耳他，此前很早就开始其他区域的布局，并已着手申请新加坡运营牌照。[2020/3/27]
Therearemanydifferenttypesoffakeapps.Onevariationseekstoobtainpersonalinformationfromuserssuchastheirwalletpasswordsandprivatekeys.
Insomecases,fakeappsprovidepreviouslygeneratedpublicaddressestousers.Sotheyassumefundsaretobedepositedintotheseaddresses.However,theydonotgainaccesstotheprivatekeysandthusdonothaveaccesstoanyfundsthataresenttothem.
SuchfakewalletshavebeencreatedforpopularcryptocurrenciessuchasEthereumandNeoand,unfortunately,manyuserslosttheirfunds.Herearesomepreventivestepsthatcanbetakentoavoidbecomingavictim:
Theprecautionshighlightedintheexchangeappsegmentaboveareequallyapplicable.However,anadditionalprecautionyoucantakewhendealingwithwalletappsistomakesurebrandnewaddressesaregeneratedwhenyoufirstopentheapp,andthatyouareinpossessionoftheprivatekeys(ormnemonicseeds).Alegitimatewalletappallowsyoutoexporttheprivatekeys,butitisalsoimportanttoensurethegenerationofnewkeypairsisnotcompromised.Soyoushoulduseareputablesoftware(preferablyopensource).Eveniftheappprovidesyouaprivatekey(orseed),youshouldverifywhetherthepublicaddressescanbederivedandaccessedfromthem.Forexample,someBitcoinwalletsallowuserstoimporttheirprivatekeysorseedstovisualizetheaddressesandaccessthefunds.Tominimizetherisksofkeysandseedsbeingcompromised,youmayperformthisonanair-gappedcomputer(disconnectedfromtheinternet).Cryptojackingapps
现场 | ChainUP Japan CEO 郑天宇：中国在大力发展区块链:金色财经现场报道，12月16日，IFIC全球金融科技创新峰会·东京站正式开幕。ChainUP Japan CEO 郑天宇在演讲中表示，中国在大力发展区块链，海南已经大力推动区块链的发展，发布了“链上海南”的项目。深圳市用区块链技术的银行达到了30个银行、488个分支机构和2315个公司等。作为区块链技术服务商，ChainUP在全球化进程中，在新加坡总部之外已建立东京办公室，将全球经验和产品进一步应用于本地化发展，为更多优质企业提供技术服务与支持。在区块链技术方面，ChainUP日本公司将适应日本的本地化监管，为日本区块链技术和数字经济产业的发展助力。[2019/12/16]
Cryptojackinghasbeenahotfavoriteamongstcybercriminalsduetothelowbarrierstoentryandlowoverheadsrequired.Furthermore,itoffersthemthepotentialforlong-termrecurringincome.DespitetheirlowerprocessingpowerwhencomparedtoPCs,mobiledevicesareincreasinglybecomingatargetofcryptojacking.
Apartfromweb-browsercryptojacking,cybercriminalsarealsodevelopingprogramsthatappeartobelegitimategaming,utilityoreducationalapps.However,manyoftheseappsaredesignedtosecretlyruncrypto-miningscriptsinthebackground.
Therearealsocryptojackingappsthatareadvertisedaslegitimatethird-partyminers,buttherewardsaredeliveredtotheappdeveloperinsteadoftheusers.
Tomakethingsworse,cybercriminalshavebecomeincreasinglysophisticated,deployinglightweightminingalgorithmstoavoiddetection.
Cryptojackingisincrediblyharmfultoyourmobiledevicesastheydegradeperformanceandaccelerateswearandtear.Evenworse,theycouldpotentiallyactasTrojanhorsesformorenefariousmalware.
灰度资产管理总规模升至137亿美元:金色财经报道，据官方推特消息，灰度资产管理总规模已升至137亿美元。比特币信托基金（GBTC）交易价格为每份25.80美元，较前一日上涨10.92%；以太坊信托基金（ETHE）交易价格为每份175.39美元，较前一日上涨20.13%。[2020/12/17 15:27:58]
Thefollowingstepscanbetakentoguardagainstthem.
Onlydownloadappsfromofficialstores,suchasGooglePlay.Piratedappsarenotpre-scannedandaremorelikelytocontaincryptojackingscripts.Monitoryourphoneforexcessivebatterydrainingoroverheating.Oncedetected,terminateappsthatarecausingthis.Keepyourdeviceandappsupdatedsothatsecurityvulnerabilitiesgetpatched.Useawebbrowserthatguardsagainstcryptojackingorinstallreputablebrowserplug-ins,suchasMinerBlock,NoCoin,andAdblock.Ifpossible,installmobileantivirussoftwareandkeepitupdated.Freegiveawayandfakecrypto-minerapps
Theseareappsthatpretendtominecryptocurrenciesfortheirusersbutdon’tactuallydoanythingapartfromdisplayingads.Theyincentivizeuserstokeeptheappsopenbyreflectinganincreaseintheuser’srewardsovertime.Someappsevenincentivizeuserstoleave5-starratingsinordertogetrewards.Ofcourse,noneoftheseappswereactuallymining,andtheirusersneverreceivedanyrewards.
Toguardagainstthisscam,understandthatforthemajorityofcryptocurrencies,miningrequireshighlyspecializedhardware(ASICs),meaningitisnotfeasibletomineonamobiledevice.Whateveramountsyouminewouldbetrivialatbest.Stayawayfromanysuchapps.
灰度：投资者转向比特币作为潜在的通胀对冲工具:灰度在推特发布的图表显示了黄金、债券、标普500指数和BTC之间的对比，表明投资者最近已经将BTC作为一种潜在的通胀对冲工具。灰度指出，事实证明，在这一关键时刻，加密资产具有弹性，这给了投资者冒险投资的理由。灰度补充称，加密市场的潜在激增已促使投资者转向比特币，将其作为抵御通胀的潜在对冲工具。（Newslogical）[2020/6/16]
ClipperappsSuchappsalterthecryptocurrencyaddressesyoucopyandreplacethemwiththoseoftheattacker.Thus,whileavictimmaycopythecorrectrecipientaddress,theonetheypastetoprocessthetransactionisreplacedbythoseoftheattacker.
Toavoidfallingvictimtosuchapps,herearesomeprecautionsyoucantakewhenprocessingtransactions.
Alwaysdoubleandtriplechecktheaddressyouarepastingintotherecipientfield.Blockchaintransactionsareirreversiblesoyoushouldalwaysbecareful.Itisbesttoverifytheentireaddressinsteadofjustportionsofit.Someappsareintelligentenoughtopasteaddressesthatlooksimilartoyourintendedaddress.SIMswappingInaSIMswappingscam,acybercriminalgainsaccesstothephonenumberofauser.TheydothisbyemployingsocialengineeringtechniquestotrickmobilephoneoperatorsintoissuinganewSIMcardtothem.Themostwell-knownSIMswappingscaminvolvedcryptocurrencyentrepreneurMichaelTerpin.HeallegedthatAT&Twasnegligentintheirhandlingofhismobilephonecredentialsresultinginhimlosingtokensvaluedatmorethan20millionUSdollars.
Oncecybercriminalshavegainedaccesstoyourphonenumber,theycanuseittobypassany2FAthatreliesonthat.Fromthere,theycanworktheirwayintoyourcryptocurrencywalletsandexchanges.
AnothermethodcybercriminalscanemployistomonitoryourSMScommunications.Flawsincommunicationsnetworkscanallowcriminalstointerceptyourmessageswhichcanincludethesecond-factorpinmessagedtoyou.
Whatmakesthisattackparticularlyconcerningisthatusersarenotrequiredtoundertakeanyaction,suchasdownloadingafakesoftwareorclickingamaliciouslink.
Topreventfallingpreytosuchscams,herearesomestepstoconsider.
DonotuseyourmobilephonenumberforSMS2FA.Instead,useappslikeGoogleAuthenticatororAuthytosecureyouraccounts.Cybercriminalsareunabletogainaccesstotheseappseveniftheypossessyourphonenumber.Alternatively,youmayusehardware2FAsuchasYubiKeyorGoogle'sTitanSecurityKey.Donotrevealpersonalidentifyinginformationonsocialmedia,suchasyourmobilephonenumber.Cybercriminalscanpickupsuchinformationandusethemtoimpersonateyouelsewhere.Youshouldneverannounceonsocialmediathatyouowncryptocurrenciesasthiswouldmakeyouatarget.Orifyouareinapositionwhereeveryonealreadyknowsyouownthem,thenavoiddisclosingpersonalinformationincludingtheexchangesorwalletsyouuse.Makearrangementswithyourmobilephoneproviderstoprotectyouraccount.Thiscouldmeanattachingapinorpasswordtoyouraccountanddictatingthatonlyuserswithknowledgeofthepincanmakechangestotheaccount.Alternatively,youcanrequiresuchchangestobemadeinpersonanddisallowthemoverthephone.WiFiCybercriminalsareconstantlyseekingentrypointsintomobiledevices,especiallytheonesofcryptocurrencyusers.OnesuchentrypointisthatofWiFiaccess.PublicWiFiisinsecureandusersshouldtakeprecautionsbeforeconnectingtothem.Ifnot,theyriskcybercriminalsgainingaccesstothedataontheirmobiledevices.TheseprecautionshavebeencoveredinthearticleonpublicWiFi.
ClosingthoughtsMobilephoneshavebecomeanessentialpartofourlives.Infact,theyaresointertwinedwithyourdigitalidentitythattheycanbecomeyourgreatestvulnerability.Cybercriminalsareawareofthisandwillcontinuetofindwaystoexploitthis.Securingyourmobiledevicesisnolongeroptional.Ithasbecomeanecessity.Staysafe.
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