Raleigh, North Carolina (WNCN) — With over 50 million people invested in some form of cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency has become an attractive target for hackers looking to steal their assets outright without fear of being tracked. I’m here.
There is a lot of money in circulation in cryptocurrencies, of which hackers stole nearly $4 billion last year.
Report with blockchain data PlatformChainAlice Thieves with ties to North Korea have been accused of the theft, a conclusion supported by an independent UN report.
Those tracking the issue say these criminals use traditional hacking techniques.
“Social engineering attacks that impersonate people are very common,” said co-founder Isaac Patka. shield 3is a consumer protection tool that brings security to cryptocurrency wallets.
“People will take a website, clone it, and make it look exactly like the real site,” he says. “They will even buy Google ads, which will be the first thing they see when they search, which actually leads them to a phishing site.”
Investors spent millions of dollars buying Bitcoin, Ether, Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies during the pandemic, but hackers stole the money from poorly protected digital wallets.
“There are several different attack vectors,” Patka said. “You could lose the private key completely, which is really a worst-case scenario and very difficult to recover.”
“If a key is compromised, for example, the funds are often gone within minutes,” he says.
Solution: To keep hackers away, do not connect your digital wallet directly to the blockchain.
Do not store your private key code in a password manager or other similar online device. Store it safely in another place in your home.
A free service called Shield3 uses artificial intelligence to learn your behavior and prevent you from being tricked by certain types of fraudulent sites.
“By default, from day one, you will automatically be blocked from interacting with flagged addresses, attackers, risky contacts, and risky apps,” Patka said.
The service also offers paid add-ons.
Unlike regular currencies, cryptocurrencies have no formal laws or regulations.
CBS 17 consumer investigator Steve Sbrascia wanted to know if it was time for the federal government to step in and impose some kind of regulation because cryptocurrencies are such an unregulated industry.
“My dream is for the crypto industry to be a little better able to self-regulate,” Patka said. “Some industry standards are emerging.”
He said the industry also needs to develop baseline standards for consumer protection.
“We also need to make wallets more readable,” he says.
Cryptocurrency is a very risky investment, No matter how you look at it.
If you’re thinking of getting started, research very carefully before spending money.
A good place to start is NerdWallet Beginner’s Guide to cryptocurrencies.
Also, the research should not stop there.
Nearly everyone involved with cryptocurrencies has lost money at some point, so find other third-party resources and learn as much as you can about cryptocurrencies before investing.
