Bitcoin Global News (BGN)
July 31, 2018 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire -- Hacks of large numbers of
Crypto wallets are almost common place today.
When you know any of
the most common exploits that
hackers use to access your Crypto, then you can do better in your
efforts to up your security and stop them in their
tracks.
Different leading industry news
outlets have different opinions on what these exploits or tools
are, and yet the similarities amongst them are enough to provide a
roadmap for better protecting yourself in the face of such
dangers.
The fact that so many different
kinds of hacks that can and do occur, this can be assumed to be the
initial cause of confusion for Blockchain insiders and
investors.
In an attempt to remedy
this, Coindesk reported that one
of the most common hacks was due to malware called “clipboard
hijackers,” in that it targeted around 2.3 million individual
Bitcoin wallets.
This particular malware is defined
in this way because it hijacks your computer’s clipboard, so that
when you copy something to paste it later, like a wallet address,
it can be changed to another wallet address by the
malware.
According to the same article by
Coindesk that made the initial claim which was mentioned above,
clipboard hijackers actually account for around 20% of all malware
attacks related to Cryptocurrencies.
Other than this type of malware,
another of the other most common hacks in the space is cracking the
accounts of those who are not already using 2FA, or Two Factor Authentication. In
addition to this, there has been an accumulation of customer
service team members who are really bots that have the sole purpose
of getting you to hand over the private logins to your Crypto
wallet.
So how does the average user
mitigate against such attacks? It all boils down to a few simple
points related to properly securing your accounts, and using the
free Crypto security tools that are already out there.
One of the free Crypto security
tools which is arguably among the best around is Metacert. Using it is as simple as downloading a free
browser extension that looks like a small shield, but if you want
to drive its improvement, you can always submit URLs to the
development team for verification, which is also done for
free.
Metacert’s utility can be boiled
down to the fact that it turns green if a website is secure as well
as a true version of itself.
If the protocol that runs the
extension is not sure about a site, then it stays black. If, the
site is a known scam, a colorful warning message appears, which
attempts to bar you from compromising your computer by going to the
site.
Again, as mentioned above, the only
downside with Metacert is really that for it to one day include all
of the needed websites, users need to continuously submit URLs to
the development team.
If not, it will continue be a very
useful tool for a relatively small corner of the
internet.
As far as the other point goes
related to properly securing your accounts, doing so is probably
simpler than you might imagine.
If you enable 2FA on every account
that you have, such as requiring a unique code to be sent to your
cell phone every time you login, then you’re off to an excellent
start.
When you also begin doing your due
diligence like always verifying that the app you want is the
official version from its true creator, then your Crypto is
probably more secure than that of a large part of the
industry.
All it takes to prevent most hacks
is being careful enough to take the time to be secure in these
specific ways. Furthermore, if you can master the basics like these
points, then you can move on to more advanced security
measures.
By: BGN Editorial Staff
News:
Cryptocurrencies
Metacert
Cryptocurrency
Wallet