Some rare good news in the world of cyber crime trends: Certain crimes declined in 2022 after years of constant rises. Should we credit crypto?
Some estimates say that cryptocurrencies have lost $2 trillion in value since November 2021. During that time, the costs associated with cyber crimes, such as ransomware payouts and financial scams, declined.
Pop the champagne! The crypto crash is also crashing cyber crime, right? Well, not so fast.
How Cryptocurrencies Enable Cyber Crime
There are four major categories of cyber crime that lean heavily on, or fully require, the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Monero: ransomware, DDoS extortion, cryptojacking and crypto theft.
Ransomware is usually facilitated by cryptocurrency, for example. The scam typically involves malware-encrypted files, which perpetrators say they’ll unlock when the victim pays the ransom. Paying in crypto allows criminals to maintain anonymity and non-traceability. (In the increasingly common “double extortion” variant, malicious actors also threaten to expose the files publicly if victims don’t pay.)
DDoS extortion is similar to ransomware. Instead of gaining access to and encrypting files, however, cyber attackers launch a sustained DDoS attack until a ransom in crypto is paid.
Another major crime is illegal cryptocurrency mining, called cryptojacking. Malicious hackers gain access to computing power owned by others, usually via special malware. They then use it to mine crypto illegally.
Unlike most kinds of computer-related crimes, cryptojackers don’t steal money or data directly or demand ransom payments. Instead, they steal computer resources. This translates to higher energy costs, lower performan ..
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