Cryptocurrency theft: Study Announces New Record Over $ 1.3 Billion in 2016

Cryptocurrency has become one of the main targets of cybercriminals in recent years. According to a recent research by The Block , the record of 1.3 billion would have been exceeded a few weeks ago.

The new Hackers hobby

The lack of a regulatory and legal framework is one of the biggest flaws in cryptocurrency trading systems. In constant evolution, these structures do not manage to secure their platforms correctly and this to the delight of hackers.

Aware of the hidden value behind these crypto-currencies, hackers maneuver to extract assets through malware, key theft or even worse ... real kidnappings !

With an estimated value of 4000 dollars, 10 BTC would therefore bring more than an armed attack, or even a bank robbery, too, the equation is not difficult to solve for hackers.

According to the figures of The Block, the sad record of 2016 (evaluated by the FBI) ​​was pulverized a few weeks ago, with the growth of investors and new platforms.

High exposure of keys

In its analysis, The Block draws the attention of observers to the weak security of trading systems.

Indeed, it reports that 2% of the total assets recorded in the crypto-stock exchanges are contained in hot wallets (ie: connected to the internet), yet this does not prevent hackers from retrieving users' private keys.

Finally, no guarantee is plausible in terms of storage of crypto-currencies because despite the assurance of platforms on cold storage (offline) , attacks are made by the thousands on the portfolios.

For example, DragonEX, a crypto-purse purported "stable and safe" was the victim of piracy leading to a theft worth $ 6 million.

What do you think of this new record of cryptocurrency flights reported by The Block? Give us your opinion in the comments section.