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.
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
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
Cryptojackinghasbeenahotfavoriteamongstcybercriminalsduetothelowbarrierstoentryandlowoverheadsrequired.Furthermore,itoffersthemthepotentialforlong-termrecurringincome.DespitetheirlowerprocessingpowerwhencomparedtoPCs,mobiledevicesareincreasinglybecomingatargetofcryptojacking.
Apartfromweb-browsercryptojacking,cybercriminalsarealsodevelopingprogramsthatappeartobelegitimategaming,utilityoreducationalapps.However,manyoftheseappsaredesignedtosecretlyruncrypto-miningscriptsinthebackground.
Therearealsocryptojackingappsthatareadvertisedaslegitimatethird-partyminers,buttherewardsaredeliveredtotheappdeveloperinsteadoftheusers.
Tomakethingsworse,cybercriminalshavebecomeincreasinglysophisticated,deployinglightweightminingalgorithmstoavoiddetection.
Cryptojackingisincrediblyharmfultoyourmobiledevicesastheydegradeperformanceandaccelerateswearandtear.Evenworse,theycouldpotentiallyactasTrojanhorsesformorenefariousmalware.
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.
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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