Why Cyberattackers and Other Grifters are Obsessed With Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency has brought about innovative new technology for use in the business world, but it’s also created more headaches, primarily due to ransomware. With ransomware, a malicious entity can lock down your computer files and demand a cryptocurrency ransom in exchange for your data’s safe return. So, why is cryptocurrency the chosen currency for these kinds of transactions?

The Big Reason Why Criminals Love Crypto

There are several reasons why cybercriminals favor cryptocurrency for their nefarious deeds:

• Anonymity: Crypto lets cybercriminals remain anonymous, as these wallets are not connected to a name, address, or bank account. These transactions are recorded on a public ledger called the blockchain, but tracing the funds back to the criminal is challenging even for well-equipped law enforcement agencies.
• Irreversibility: Credit cards and bank transfers can be reversed, but cryptocurrency exchanges cannot, thereby ensuring the criminal keeps the payment.
• Speed and borderlessness: Cryptocurrency can be transferred anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes, and it doesn’t need any approval from banks or third parties. This makes it ideal for international cybercrime.
• Decentralization: Cryptocurrencies operate without a central governing body, which means that no authority can intercept, monitor, or freeze any transferred funds.

All of these contribute to cryptocurrency’s status as the king of cybercrime capital; it’s fast, anonymous, difficult to trace, and permanent, all important for the world of cybercrime.

But How Do Businesses Get Crypto for Their Payments?

Despite being cybercrime’s favorite currency, cryptocurrencies aren’t difficult to obtain; if they were, businesses wouldn’t be able to pay the criminals, after all. Here’s how they do it.

When faced with a quick ransom demand, businesses will buy Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies from a major online currency exchange. They might face identity and anti-money laundering checks, which can slow down an urgent payment. However, for a corporate attack, an organization might hire a specialized cybersecurity or incident response firm to handle the negotiations, which can speed up the process due to pre-established relationships they have with brokers.

Smaller ransoms can also leverage Bitcoin ATMs or peer-to-peer transfers, but these methods are not often associated with business ransomware attacks.

Put a Stop to Extortion Before It Begins

There’s no guarantee that you’ll get your data back, even if you pay your ransom, which is why we want to emphasize that paying the ransom is a bad idea (and it only serves to fund future attacks—perhaps against you). Instead, we recommend you implement robust precautions that stop ransomware in its tracks.

Your cybersecurity approach should include the following:

The 3-2-1 Backup Strategy

Data backups can often eliminate the need to deal with an attacker at all, but only if you follow these guidelines:

• 3 copies of your data.
• 2 different media types (e.g., local hard drive and cloud storage).
• 1 copy stored off-site/offline to ensure it can’t be encrypted by the ransomware that hit your network.

Solutions to Enhance Your Security

To make yourself as difficult a target as possible, you should implement all of these solutions below:

• Multi-factor authentication: All remote access should be protected with MFA, including your VPNs and web applications. This simple trick can thwart most hacking attacks.
• Regular patching: All operating systems, software, and firmware should be up to date and patched against known security vulnerabilities.
• Network segmentation: Keep your network in segments to limit how much damage any attacker can cause.
• Employee training: Your staff are going to be the biggest hurdle for any attacker, so teach them what ransomware looks like, starting with phishing attack training. Make this training mandatory, and ensure they can recognize and report phishing messages, suspicious links, and social engineering threats.
• Principle of least privilege: Make sure employees only have access to what they need rather than every little piece of your infrastructure.

To minimize the threat of ransomware for your business, be sure to get your network audited, reviewed, monitored, and maintained by Preferred. To learn more, call us at 708-781-7110.