Bitcoin attacks

Cryptographic currency’s rising value makes it an appealing target for cybercrime gangs and crimeware toolkit developers.

Bitcoins: Currency of the future, or perpetual plaything of Ponzi-schemers and money launderers?

Regardless of your views on the virtual currency or value system, just like dollars — physical or electronic — the cryptographic currency can be used for honest and dishonest dealings alike. But by using bitcoins, people expose themselves to additional information security risks. For starters, that’s because the skyrocketing value of a bitcoin has driven criminals to hunt for, and exploit, any and every related weakness they can find. Furthermore, when it comes to the infrastructure supporting bitcoins, weaknesses abound.

With that in mind, here are seven reasons why the increasing volume of bitcoin-targeting attacks won’t stop.

1. Cybercrime follows the money
Criminals aren’t just tapping bitcoins to disguise or launder illegal transactions. They’re also trying to steal bitcoins themselves, which by virtue of being a cryptographic currency are incredibly difficult to trace. Also, with the value of a bitcoin at times reaching $1, 200, cybercriminals who pull off even a small heist may net a million-dollar payday. “How can they ignore so much value?” said Etay Maor, a cybercrime expert who works for IBM’s Trusteer, speaking by phone.