Hackers Targeting Bitcoin Wallets with Aggressive Malware

When it comes to committing crimes, it would seem that the human mind knows no boundaries. As cybercrime becomes more and more prominent and common, its targets are becoming increasingly diverse. Anything that could bring benefit to the cyber crooks is going to be exploited eventually. The growing popularity of Bitcoin naturally caught the attention of the maliciously intended individuals lurking on the Internet. It's no surprise that there have been numerous attempts to create malware in order to steal Bitcoins. Security experts are, of course, well aware of this and work tirelessly to improve the security measures of Bitcoin.

Bitcoins Today Differ Greatly from Yesterday

However, the authors of the malware in question today have managed to find a loophole and create an actual functioning Bitcoin malware. It didn't cost the victim a small sum. The person who was targeted by the cyber criminals lost a total of 13 Bitcoins or nearly $33,000! The poor victim went on Reddit and shared his pain. He stated that the method used by the authors of the malware was to basically change the address of the wallet where the Bitcoins were meant to arrive at their own wallet. There are certain cyber threats which possess the ability to modify the contents of the clipboard, therefore tricking users into pasting text that they did not previously copy. It is possible that one of these threats is being used in this hacking scheme as well. The victim noticed that something was not quite right and tried to stop the transaction before it was completed but to his pity, he was unable to. He proceeded to ask the person who was meant to receive the Bitcoins whether the transaction has been successful. The answer was no. His 13 Bitcoins had vanished.

Bitcoin and Cybercrime Clash

Bitcoin has been trending for a few years, and it looks like cyber criminals are beginning to use more than extortion techniques to harvest Bitcoins from their victims. Ransomware, personal data theft, private photos (Fancy Bear hackers stole hundreds of nude pictures from a plastic surgery clinic and demanded to be paid via Bitcoins to keep the photos private) are just some of the tactics that were used to convince people to knowingly send their Bitcoins to the attackers. Now, it appears that cyber criminals have opted to adopt a new approach which directly targets the wallet of their victim. So, what can you do to protect yourself from crooks who want to steal your Bitcoins? Naturally, the first advice is to use a credible anti-malware application which will detect and halt any malicious operations that may threaten your online safety. As for extra protection, users who value their Bitcoin wallets might consider investing in a hardware Bitcoin wallet. These non-expensive devices offer an extra layer of security and authentication whose purpose is to stop Bitcoin fraud like the one we are discussing in this post.

Due to the sheer amount of new malware that's been pumped out daily, it's impossible to have a viable option to remove any, and every type of infection you may get thus prevention is crucial. Malware researchers work very hard in order to keep regular Internet users safe, but that's no easy task. Not only do they have to try to develop systems in order to prevent cyber criminals from infiltrating but they also have the task of creating software which would remove malware from the already infected machines. It's indeed an uphill battle, but they do not tire nor do they give up.