2020 Marks A Year Of Exit Scams, Thefts And Security Flaws

Crypto Exchanges Experienced The Full Range Of Social Engineering Scams, Security Breaches And Vulnerability ExploitsThe past year has been a rollercoaster ride for the world of cryptocurrencies, as modern economies still suffer from the COVID-19-induced market crash in March. However, the market uncertainty made it possible for a blooming underground hacking scene, which targeted the emerging economical sector as the main victim.Nevertheless, the crypto sector saw an evident transformation from a speculative-driven space to a more stable financial structure. Furthermore, tech and payment giants like PayPal, Google, Microsoft, as well as some large-scale institutional players like the central banks of China, the European Union, and Switzerland, all set an eye to exploring the possibilities behind the crypto ecosystem.And despite the joint efforts of regulators, project developers, and the crypto community, the sector is still a primary target for exit scams, thefts, and security breaches. In 2020 alone, more than 30 large-scale reported security breaches or scams occurred, while many others still remain unreported.January, for example, saw Poloniex do a massive password reset campaign, following a leak in user credentials in social media, exposing login information due to a data breach.February 2020 was the month in which Helix Bitcoin mixing services owner was arrested, due to suspicion of laundry of over $300 million worth of bitcoin. Also in February, the IOTA foundation shut down operations of its entire network, due to hackers exploiting a security breach in IOTA’s wallet app. Altsbit joined IOTA in the victim list, as the exchange was hacked and the majority of user funds were stolen in a cyberattack.March brought a security breach in Microsoft’s Windows SMB protocol, dubbed Prometei. The botnet exploit was used to hijack computer resources in order to mine for cryptocurrencies. March also saw YouTube being hacked to promote a Ponzi scheme, themed…