Monthly Archives: April 2022

Last month, a cryptocurrency blockchain platform built for a popular play-to-earn online video game was hacked. The hackers stole more than $600 million in digital currency from the blockchain, called Ronin (its technically a sidechain, meaning a blockchain that acts as a bridge to other blockchains), in what has been described as the second-largest cryptocurrency heist to date.

As more industries make use of so-called blockchains, which are really just digital ledgers for storing data, the high-profile theft has raised new concerns about just how effective existing blockchain safeguards and protocols are at protecting the digital wallets of millions of traders.

Right now, its the wild west, Alan Mislove, professor of computer science at Northeastern, says of the blockchain-based crypto trade.

Alan Mislove, professor of computer science at Northeastern. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Not all blockchains are used for the purpose of trading cryptocurrencies. But because they effectively decentralize tradingor remove the intermediaryblockchain technology has been pitched as a way to move beyond traditional banking toward a more democratized system founded on the principles of inclusion, transparency, and security. Whereas traditional ledgers in banks require special permission or access to be audited, blockchains can be permissionless and wholly transparent (or public). Transactions are verified by participants in the blockchain, instead of a central authority, who are in turn rewarded in the currency.

How secure is this process? It depends. Blockchain companies often rely on a public-private key pair encryption, Mislove says. Blockchain users have a public key and private key that they use to perform certain tasks. Only the owner knows what the private key is, but everyone else knows the public key.

The challenge becomes keeping those private keys private, Mislove says. As they are obtained by an attacker, theres nothing stopping a hacker from stealing those funds.

Some blockchain users store their private key on a physical device to keep it safe. Others use cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Coinbase, that secure the private keys on users behalf.

But Coinbase, the industrys largest exchange, has seen an uptick in hacking of accounts. Once criminals gain access, they can drain a users account of its cryptocurrency in a matter of minutes, according to CNBC.

Ravi Sarathy, professor of international business and strategy at Northeastern. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

Typically how it happens is somebody would break into a crypto exchange, Mislove says. But another common way is that the hacker would attempt to phish users to trick them into giving them their private keys.

In the case of the Ronin blockchain theft, hackers were able to get access to so-called validator nodes, which are computers tasked with authorizing blockchain transactions. By hacking these computers, the attacker was able to approve fake withdrawals from accounts valued at more than $600 million.

Mislove says he doesnt know the details of the Ronin hack, but speculates it could have happened by means of traditional hacking.

Oftentimes the way they break into those servers is through phishing, malware, etc., he says. In other words, social engineering.

But other cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (also the industrys first), are proving to be unhackable, says Ravi Sarathy, professor of international business and strategy at Northeastern.

Bitcoin, one of the very first blockchains to enter public usage, has never been hacked, Sarathy says.

Sarathy says he thinks the Ronin hack, while an unfortunate event, can help companies fortify their servers and rethink how transactions get approved.

I think it just means that people are going to have to be more careful about how they set up validation, particularly on permission blockchains, Sarathy says.

Sarathy says hes a blockchain optimist.

I think blockchains value is broader than cryptocurrency when you think about things like decentralized voting and financial inclusion, for example, Sarathy says. The applications are virtually endless.

For media inquiries, please contact media@northeastern.edu.

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What the $600M cryptocurrency heist means for future of blockchain security - Northeastern University

Hackers are increasingly targeting DeFi (Decentralized Finance) cryptocurrency platforms, with Q1 2022 data showing that more platforms are being targeted than ever before.

In 2021 alone, about $3.2 billion worth of digital assets were stolen, which was already an explosion compared to previous years.

However, the trajectory for 2022 looks to be even more aggressive, with almost $1.3 billion already stolen during the Q1 alone.

The new report comes fromChainalysis, which is seeing a massive rise in successful cyberattacks against cryptocurrency platforms, with attacks primarily focusing on DeFi platforms.

A whopping 97% of all cryptocurrency stolen this year are from DeFi platforms, leaving a mere 3% to exchanges. While two years ago, DeFi accounted for only 30% of all digital assets stolen.

Most of these attacks relied on exploiting code vulnerabilities or a security breach on the platform allowing cryptocurrency theft.

DeFi platforms are completely decentralized and free of intermediaries, exchanges, and brokers, using a system of smart contracts on a blockchain to offer lending, trading, insuring, and interest-earning.

DeFi platforms need to rely on transparent, open-source development models to convince investors of their trustworthiness, which allows researchers to analyze the smart contracts and services for bugs.

However, this also allows threat actors to examine the same code and potentially find and exploit a bug before its fixed. Unfortunately, theres commonly a bug that lies undetected and unfixed, which malicious actors can use to siphon peoples funds in a flash.

Another issue with DeFi platform security used to be the possibility to manipulate the market during a loan action, driving the value of the borrowed token down via excess slippage and then repurchasing it at a deflated price.

This special flash loan attack unfolds in seconds and may simultaneously involve multiple DeFi platforms.

In 2022, most protocols switched to using decentralized price oracles, which are resistant to manipulation, so the problem appears to have been addressed.

Stealing cryptocurrency is one thing, but obscuring the path to your pocket and making it usable withoutgoing to prisonis another.

According to Chainalysis data, threat actors passed most of the stolen assets in 2022 through risky laundering services such ascoin tumblersand illegal exchanges on the dark web.

Tumblers, or mixers, are services that attempt to anonymize cryptocurrency transactions by mixing received crypto with coins from other users and services. The mixer will then take a commission from the received cryptocurrency and send the rest to another wallet address owned by the threat actor, hoping to evade law enforcement.

In 2021, a significant 25% of all cryptocurrency stolen from DeFi platforms wasreturned to the victimsafter some time, serving as an atypical white-hat hacking exercise.

So far this year, no funds stolen from DeFi platforms have been returned, so the threat actors werent interested in making security statements but money.

See more here:
Cryptocurrency DeFi platforms are now more targeted than ever - BleepingComputer

This article is a writeup of the sixth episode of CRYPTOLAND, Motherboards documentary series about how cryptocurrency is affecting culture, politics, the environment, and our shared future. Watch it on Motherboards YouTube.

Ransomware has become an epidemic on the internet, targeting businesses, government agencies, hospitals, and schools, with hackers attempting to extort victims.

Its a decades old problem, but it has become prevalent in the last few years, when dozens of cybercriminal gangs have started developing their own ransomware, or creating affiliate programs where the ransomware creators share the code with others in exchange for a cut of the proceedings. Initially, hackers targeted individuals, asking for a few hundred dollars in Bitcoin, but now they go after bigger targets, which they can extort for larger amounts, and which cannot afford to remain without access to their computers and servers, such as Colonial Pipeline.

Affton High School in Missouri is just one of around 1,000 U.S. schools hacked last year with ransomware. On Feb. 24, 2021, all the schools systems were affected by a ransomware attack.

On that day, Adam Jasinski, the director of technology for the schools district, woke up to an email from a teacher that contained a screenshot of a ransom note.

I knew something was wrong right away because I can see that the screen I use on the desktop and it was blue, Brian Esselman, a teacher at the school, told Motherboard. It said some very rude things of course and I realized right away that this was a problem.

Jasinski rushed to work, panicking the entire time he was driving, he said.

He then checked the server room, while the superintendent called off the school day.

Every byte on any types of your devices was encrypted. Dont try to use backups because it were encrypted too, the ransom note read. To get all of your data back. Contact us.

Jasinski said he quickly concluded that the hackers had stolen data from the school districts HR department containing social security numbers and other personal data of around 1,000 people.

Luckily, the schools backups were not impacted. So Jasinski did not even have to contact or engage with the hackers at all.

When ransom payments do happen, companies like Chainalysis can track the Bitcoin through the blockchain, identifying the hackers wallets and collaborating with law enforcement in an attempt to recover the funds or identify the hackers themselves.

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How Cryptocurrency Gave Birth to the Ransomware Epidemic - VICE

This 2022 year will be the best for such top 10 long-term cryptocurrency investments.

The year 2021 has been one of a kind for cryptocurrencies for the sole reason that the cryptocurrency market witnessed a roller coaster ride. Some cryptocurrencies made unfathomable gains whereas some busted massively. Taking such volatility into account, what 2022 has in store for these digital currencies is something that all the investors are looking forward to. Here are the top 10 long-term cryptocurrency investments that you should consider in 2022.

Current Price: US$42,275.85

Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency originally described in a 2008 whitepaper by a person, or group of people, using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. It was launched soon after, in January 2009. Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer online currency, meaning that all transactions happen directly between equal, independent network participants, without the need for any intermediary to permit or facilitate them. Bitcoin was created, according to Nakamotos own words, to allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.

Current Price: US$3,178.40

Ethereum is a decentralized open-source blockchain system that features its own cryptocurrency, Ether. ETH works as a platform for numerous other cryptocurrencies, as well as for the execution of decentralized smart contracts. The Ethereum Foundation officially launched the blockchain on July 30, 2015, under the prototype codenamed Frontier. Ethereums own purported goal is to become a global platform for decentralized applications, allowing users from all over the world to write and run software that is resistant to censorship, downtime, and fraud.

Current Price: US$1.00

USDT is a stablecoin (stable-value cryptocurrency) that mirrors the price of the U.S. dollar, issued by a Hong Kong-based company Tether. Tether is useful for crypto investors because it offers a way to avoid the extreme volatility of other cryptocurrencies. This creates liquidity for exchange platforms, creates no-cost exit strategies for investors, and adds flexibility and stability to investors portfolios. It is one of the best long-term cryptocurrencies to buy and hold in 2022.

Current Price: US$415.36

Launched in July 2017, Binance is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange globally based on daily trading volume. Binance aims to bring cryptocurrency exchanges to the forefront of financial activity globally. The idea behind Binances name is to show this new paradigm in global finance Binary Finance, or Binance. Aside from being the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally, Binance has launched a whole ecosystem of functionalities for its users. The Binance network includes the Binance Chain, Binance Smart Chain, Binance Academy, Trust Wallet, and Research projects, which all employ the powers of blockchain technology to bring new-age finance to the world.

Current Price: US$0.9998

USD Coin (known by its ticker USDC) is a stablecoin that is pegged to the U.S. dollar on a 1:1 basis. Every unit of this cryptocurrency in circulation is backed up by $1 that is held in reserve, in a mix of cash and short-term U.S. Treasury bonds. The Centre consortium, which is behind this asset, says USDC is issued by regulated financial institutions. The stablecoin was originally launched on a limited basis in September 2018. Put simply, USD Coins mantra is digital money for the digital age and the stablecoin is designed for a world where cashless transactions are becoming more common.

Current Price: US$110.16

Solana is a highly functional open source project that banks on blockchain technologys permissionless nature to provide decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions. While the idea and initial work on the project began in 2017, Solana was officially launched in March 2020 by the Solana Foundation with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

Current Price: US$0.7429

XRP is the native cryptocurrency of Ripple, a cryptocurrency payment system created by Ripple Labs Inc. XRP is its digital asset built for global payments, implying that Ripple plans to rival money transfers usually conducted by the banking system. XRP would allow users to send money at a very low cost, attracting the potential interest of retail customers and banks alike. A key value proposition of Ripple is its minuscule transaction costs while offering transaction finality of under five seconds.

Current Price: US$1.01

Cardano was founded back in 2017, and named after the 16th-century Italian polymath Gerolamo Cardano. The native ADA token takes its name from the 19th-century mathematician Ada Lovelace, widely regarded as the worlds first computer programmer. The ADA token is designed to ensure that owners can participate in the operation of the network. Because of this, those who hold the cryptocurrency have the right to vote on any proposed changes to the software.

Current Price: US$88.31

Terra is a blockchain payment platform for stablecoins that relies on keeping a balance between two types of cryptocurrencies. Terra-backed stablecoins, such as TerraUSD, are tied to the value of physical currencies. Their counterweight, Luna, powers the Terra platform and is used to mint more Terra stablecoins.

Current Price: US$79.71

Avalanche is the fastest smart contracts platform in the blockchain industry, as measured by time-to-finality. Avalanche is blazingly fast, low cost, and eco-friendly. Any smart contract-enabled application can outperform its competition by deploying on Avalanche. Avalanche launched on mainnet, on September 21, 2020. Since then, the platform has grown to secure over 450+ individual projects, $118M+ of AVAX burned (reducing supply), 1,350+ individual block-producing validators, and over 1.5M+ community members around the globe.

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Top 10 Long-term Cryptocurrency Investments to Consider in 2022 - Analytics Insight

Spring Break goers define cryptocurrency to Fox News for those who don't understand how it works

Spring break goers on Miami Beach gave Fox News their definitions of cryptocurrency, saying its "the future of the financial system."

"Cryptocurrency is like a digital universal currency thats used online," a Canadian resident visiting Miami told Fox News. "Its kind of like stocks. It can go up or down. They fluctuate with the market, I guess, depending on the current trend."

Cryptocurrency, otherwise known as "crypto," is any form of currency that only exists digitally where transactions are secured through cryptography.

Fox News Digital asked young men and women on spring break to explain crypto for those who dont understand how it works.

Kent State University students speak to Fox News about cryptocurrency (Matt Leach/Fox Digital / Fox News)

A student from Kent State University told Fox News Digital crypto is "not real money" and that it is "confusing to a lot of people."

"You can't just go to the store," and spend ten Shiba Inu, he added.

BARSTOOL'S DAVE PORTNOY: BITCOIN, CRYPTO TOO BIG TO FAIL NOW

Theres a difference between "what the mass media wants you to go for and what actual crypto is," a University of Delaware student said. "Its kind of like the difference between the S&P 500 and buying a regular stock in the stock market."

Cryptocurrency is "reverse inflation," another student from the University of Delaware said, adding that it is "taking out the banks," and giving "more money for the people."

University of Delaware student told Fox News crypto is "the future of the financial system." (Matt Leach/Fox Digital / Fox News)

A Canadian resident visiting Miami said he thinks its "OK to have a lot of mystery around" crypto."

I understand the bitcoin and stuff like that, but when you get into the NFTs and all that area I dont really understand that.

"I dont see how a picture of a monkey can sell for half a million dollars," he added.

PETER THIEL: CRYPTO WILL NEVER BE' CONTROLLED BY GOVERNMENT, UNLIKE WOKE COMPANIES'

The students expressed their opinions on the specific currencies offered under crypto.

A Kent State University student told Fox News he invested in Shiba Inu and has "probably gained about a grand from it."

"I started about a year ago. It fluctuates a lot," he said. "Im not really invested in bitcoin. I dont have that much money, so I invest in the really cheap stuff."

"I think that Dogecoin represents the power of the people taking the power from the people that are abusing it," a University of Delaware student told Fox News. "Dogecoin started as a joke, and now it has real financial value based on its demands."

However, another University of Delaware student said he "doesnt really trust things like Doge coin" because its "made up."

"Just this morning I actually made $150 dollars on crypto," he added. "Ethereum is going to the moon right now."

Wisconsin resident on spring break in Miami Beach speaks to Fox News (Matt Leach/Fox Digital / Fox News)

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A Kent State University student said he really likes crypto because it "has a lot of unknowns," which he lives for. "I have about $400 dollars invested into it, but I have over a million shares of it. So if I lose $400 dollars, I lose $400 dollars. Im in college [so] Im really not too worried about it."

A Wisconsin resident visiting Miami told Fox News, "its going to take a long time for [crypto] to become normal, and once it does, everyones going to be using it."

See the article here:
Spring break goers on Miami Beach say the 'mystery' of cryptocurrency is the 'future of the financial system' - Fox Business

Ethereum's move to a 100% proof-of-stake model has been delayed, buying crypto mining operations more time until the transition.

On Tuesday, ethereum core developer, Tim Beiko, confirmed on Twitter that the much-anticipated Ethereum Merge will be delayed from June to a "few months after" according to the tweet (via CoinDesk).

Ethereum Merge is the fun name the company uses for its network's transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS). The reason this is a big deal is that PoW currently involves high energy costs that power enormous crypto mining operations that run night and day, which have also hogged up all the GPU stock in the last few years.

The two largest cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, and ethereum, both currently employ proof-of-work to manage transactions on their respective blockchains.

The final phase of ethereum 2.0 will be powered by proof-of-stake which uses "validators" for selecting blocks on the ethereum blockchain by "staking" ether. As their ether gets used, much like miners in proof-of-work, they get rewarded for taking part. Basically, they have to buy tokens to win blocks in the proof-of-stake model.

The big attraction for PoS is that ethereum claims it's 99% greener than PoW and easier to scale, which would in theory eliminate the need for massive crypto mining operations that have become a pretty big business, especially in rural areas of the US.

Whether the Merge is a good thing for ethereum, only time will tell since proof-of-stake on a larger scale is actually faster and more secure than the traditional mining method, which would be made obsolete, and objectively better for the environment.

The rest is here:
Ethereum won't ditch GPU cryptocurrency mining until much later in the year - PC Gamer