Image of the Day: 11 of October – Motherboard, The Motley Fool, MarketWatch and Others
CryptoBit News Today3 min read
Earlier this week, several prominent websites suffered a security breach. A hacker group gained control of the websites, then used them to foist a scam upon unsuspecting web-surfers. The effect was limited, but as the threat of these kinds of attacks grows, it will become increasingly important for individuals and companies to implement sophisticated defenses. ## The Hack
The websites for Motherboard, The Motley Fool, MarketWatch, and other big sites were compromised. Whether it was nine or a dozen depends on which account of the events you read.
The attackers used well-known JavaScript libraries to plant their code. These libraries are commonly used, so it found its way onto the victim websites. The attackers took advantage of this fact to place their malicious code on the websites.
The code, once planted, tricked website users whenever they visited those sites. It gave the appearance that the user had bitcoins to send, but sent them to the attacker's cryptocurrency wallet.
The scam worked by making the cryptocurrency wallet appear to belong to a legitimate service. Users would be tricked into believing they needed to send funds to that address, and would do so. The attackers would receive the money, but the users' own bitcoins wouldn't appear as they believed. The hackers would then be able to spend the bitcoins, or exchange them for cash.
The compromised websites were used, in one variation, as a way to get people to sign up for hacker-controlled web wallets. That way, the victims would have to send their bitcoins to the hacker's wallet. It is unclear if the attack also involved "clipboard jacking" to get people to send their bitcoin to the wrong wallet. ## The Outcome
Fortunately, the hacking incident was quickly identified by the websites. Several anti-malware services reported that they had seen the code for this scam, and the websites uninstalled the code.
This type of attack is nothing new, although the relatively high-profile targets show that hackers will try to compromise sites that you might not identify as likely targets. ## Cryptocurrency and You
If you deal with cryptocurrencies, you are at risk of these kinds of attacks. There are several steps that you can take to protect yourself.
First, be aware of the risk. Many of the victims of these attacks probably did not think that they were at risk. They had never had any problems before, and they thought they were being careful.
They were wrong. And so could you be. Always assume that you are at risk, and implement protections. This is especially true with cryptocurrencies.
Second, always secure your cryptocurrency wallet. A hardware wallet is almost always the best option here. Hardware wallets are offline, so you don't have to worry about what could go wrong from an online computer. They hold your cryptocurrency in a physical way, and you can lock them in a physical vault. They also have physical keys that are hard to clone, and which you can keep in multiple locations.
If you do not have a hardware wallet, you can store your cryptocurrency on a USB stick or paper wallet. Neither is as secure as a hardware wallet, but both are preferable to keeping your cryptocurrency on a computer.
Third, always have a backup plan. If you store your cryptocurrency in a program that you can lose, you can lose it for real. You should always have a backup of your keys and the your cryptocurrency stored on a portable device. This way, even if the computer you are using is compromised, you will still have access to your cryptocurrency.
