Given the success of Ransomware as a Service (RaaS), Cybercrime as a Service (CaaS) will see a huge development in the near future. CaaS will be a very attractive business model for threat actors and an increasing number of additional attack vectors will be made available as a service on the dark web. Crypto and digital wallets are expected to top this list.
Crypto credentials and digital wallets attack vectors
As CaaS expands, concerns about crypto exchanges and digital wallets come to the fore because after all, it comes down to “money.” Bank transactions and wire transfers used to be prime targets for cybercriminals. But as banks gradually increased their security measures, encrypting transactions and requiring multi-factor authentication (MFA), it became more difficult for hackers to intercept them. This causes criminals to look for other opportunities.
What is crypto scam?
Crypto scams are just like any other financial scam, but here the scammers are interested in crypto assets rather than cash. These scams use the same techniques as other scams. Their purpose is usually to get someone to give up their personal data, transfer digital assets like NFTs, steal crypto, etc. to manipulate.
Recovering stolen funds is not easy given LaaS
As CaaS expands in the coming months, Money Laundering as a Service (LaaS) is also on the horizon. So LaaS can also become part of the rapidly growing CaaS portfolio. For institutions and individuals who are victims of this type of cybercrime, the move to automation means money laundering will become harder to trace and the chances of stolen funds to be recovered will decrease.
2022 reviews
Last year, FortiGuard Labs predicted an increase in instances of malware designed to target stored crypto credentials and drain digital wallets. Digital wallets are easy targets for hackers as they tend to be less secure. Examples of non-alterable token (NFT) attacks were seen in 2022. Several NFT attacks on the popular social platform Discord also made headlines. However, the risks in blockchains are not that much taken yet and the exploits are not well spread yet, which means new opportunities for cyber attackers.
Fortinet experts recommend following the following five tips to avoid crypto scams:
- Manage software wallets: Keeping crypto wallets safe starts with the wallet owner. Keep less crypto in software mobile wallets for daily exchanges and transfers. If the amount is large, it should be kept in a hardware wallet. Use exchanges for minimum and time-based transactions. If an exchange platform does not support instant withdrawals, consider other options.
- Don't advertise yourself: Crypto enthusiasts shouldn't talk or advertise about it on online forums, social media or other platforms. Otherwise, you are inviting criminals to target you.
- Secure endpoints: Whether you work from home or trade crypto remotely, real-time visibility, protection and mitigation is essential with advanced endpoint detection and response (EDR) for protection and remediation. Cybercriminals know that the target is extremes.
- Do your own research: It may be helpful to look outside the organization for clues about attack methods. DRP services are critical to help gain contextual insights about current and imminent threats before an attack occurs, in order to perform external threat surface assessments, find and fix security issues.
- Education: An important method of defending against these developments is cyber security awareness education and training. Today, everyone needs to be more sophisticated and prepared to defend against clever phishing techniques from criminals.
The world of cybercrime and the scale of attack methods by hackers in general continues to grow at a rapid pace. A comprehensive, integrated and automated cybersecurity mesh platform is required to reduce complexity and increase security flexibility. Tighter integration can enable improved visibility and faster, coordinated and effective response to threats across the network.
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