Cryptocurrency
Crypto.IQ Daily Digest July 2, 2018
CRYPTO CRIME,SECURITY Kaspersky Labs Report Shows Criminals Are Turning Away from Ransomware to Cryptojacking IQ THOUGHTS Sometimes adoption can be a bad thing, like when criminals discover a treasure trove of cash in a place filled with inexperienced users, a place like crypto. Just like with the law abiding, criminals will come to cryptocurrency, and […]
CRYPTO CRIME,SECURITY
Kaspersky Labs Report Shows Criminals Are Turning Away from Ransomware to Cryptojacking
IQ THOUGHTS
Sometimes adoption can be a bad thing, like when criminals discover a treasure trove of cash in a place filled with inexperienced users, a place like crypto.
Just like with the law abiding, criminals will come to cryptocurrency, and they’ll come in waves. The smartest of the bunch have already been at it for years, hacking Mt. Gox and a handful of other exchanges, along with wallets and, to a much lesser degree, taking to kidnapping and other violent means of separating HODLers from their hoards.
We’re now seeing a second wave of less savvy criminals pick up on the fat target that is cryptocurrency. They’re moving from ransomware to crytojacking, which is a relatively new term but one with which we should all become familiar.
Some of us and people close to us have been hacked, so we’re not talking down to you. We want you to learn this now, the easy way, by hearing it from us, not by losing crypto.
So we’ll say it again: keep your cryptocurrency in the most secure location you can for how you’re using it.
If you’re trading, that means on an exchange, but we would only recommend keeping the amount in play on any exchange. If you’re just HODLing, then we strongly recommend that you put that crypto in cold storage, that is on a hard wallet that is not connected to the web.
And this old saw should be branded on your brain: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
ADOPTION, ETHEREUM, BLOCKCHAIN
IQ THOUGHTS
The biggest names in their respective industries are signalling their interest in blockchain by joining the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance that seeks to connect industry with Ethereum experts to foster a stronger relationship between the two.
It’s natural for there to be exploratory forays into the crypto space by the Fortune 500 types before they buy in completely. So we see only positives in these first steps by companies like EBay, PwC, and Foxconn. We already know what blockchain has to offer, and, as you know if you’ve been here any length of time, it’s a lot. We’re excited that these companies want to know more. We’re sure they’ll like what they find.