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By André Alves, Trend Micro Brasil technical advisor
Much discussed lately, the adoption of cryptocurrencies has become the subject of countless debates about the advantages and uncertainties that users and industry sectors may face in the coming years. Behind all of this, blockchain technology is the protagonist of the scene, created precisely to base the transactions of Bitcoin and Monero and to structure the distributed records of these digital currencies.
At first glance, considered a revolutionary, the digital currency market is highlighted in the headlines for being on the rise and reaching record market value in recent months.
In fact, blockchain enables the elimination of intermediaries and increases the security of transactions that decrease the risk of being forged. The fact that it is an open source database means that anyone can audit the code and test the mechanisms that guarantee the security of the transactions.
Because it is completely processed on computers, blockchain-based transactions introduce a possibility that has been explored by some websites: instead of displaying advertisements and advertisements, receiving indirect revenue for each click, the visitor lends the processing of his computer, throughout the time you are viewing the site, to “mine” digital currencies that would be transferred directly to the site.
This is what happened recently with Pirate Bay, one of the sites with the largest bank of torrents in the world, which assumed to have used the Coinhive miner. This means that when accessing Pirate Bay, visitors unwittingly collaborated to make their machines real “zombies”, generating profits for third parties through the mining of bitcoin coins.
Then another debate arises: is the anonymity of the “donors” involved in the transactions, which become primary sources of funds for websites, legally sustainable?
To worsen the scenario - and make life easier for hackers - with the presence established on the infected machine, the attacker will be able to incorporate remote control functions such as the denial of service attack.
However, a very simple signal can help the user to identify if the machine is infected with a digital coin miner. If the individual notices that the computer is heating up and activating the internal ventilation frequently, even when performing simple functions, it is important to check the Task Manager. Use mistrust as a standard: if the activity at the top of the consumption list is an unknown program, do a complete scan of your antivirus.
The mining of electronic currencies in a sneaky way demonstrates that the good or bad applications of blockchain technologies remain dependent on an immutable component: the human being.
The anonymity made possible by decentralized currencies is unprecedented for financial transactions and is precisely what can attract cybercriminals. Therefore, more than ever, it is necessary to pay attention to this scenario that will still have many developments.
At first glance, considered a revolutionary, the digital currency market is highlighted in the headlines for being on the rise and reaching record market value in recent months.
In fact, blockchain enables the elimination of intermediaries and increases the security of transactions that decrease the risk of being forged. The fact that it is an open source database means that anyone can audit the code and test the mechanisms that guarantee the security of the transactions.
Because it is completely processed on computers, blockchain-based transactions introduce a possibility that has been explored by some websites: instead of displaying advertisements and advertisements, receiving indirect revenue for each click, the visitor lends the processing of his computer, throughout the time you are viewing the site, to “mine” digital currencies that would be transferred directly to the site.
This is what happened recently with Pirate Bay, one of the sites with the largest bank of torrents in the world, which assumed to have used the Coinhive miner. This means that when accessing Pirate Bay, visitors unwittingly collaborated to make their machines real “zombies”, generating profits for third parties through the mining of bitcoin coins.
Then another debate arises: is the anonymity of the “donors” involved in the transactions, which become primary sources of funds for websites, legally sustainable?
To worsen the scenario - and make life easier for hackers - with the presence established on the infected machine, the attacker will be able to incorporate remote control functions such as the denial of service attack.
However, a very simple signal can help the user to identify if the machine is infected with a digital coin miner. If the individual notices that the computer is heating up and activating the internal ventilation frequently, even when performing simple functions, it is important to check the Task Manager. Use mistrust as a standard: if the activity at the top of the consumption list is an unknown program, do a complete scan of your antivirus.
The mining of electronic currencies in a sneaky way demonstrates that the good or bad applications of blockchain technologies remain dependent on an immutable component: the human being.
The anonymity made possible by decentralized currencies is unprecedented for financial transactions and is precisely what can attract cybercriminals. Therefore, more than ever, it is necessary to pay attention to this scenario that will still have many developments.
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