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Hacking the Crypto-monetized Internet
Cyber Threats
What hazard lies across the nook?
By: Jon Clay
June 30, 2022
Learn time: ( phrases)
The online is a number of many years previous. Nevertheless it largely nonetheless depends on the identical methodology of monetization because it all the time has: promoting. Nevertheless, issues are altering because of the ability of cryptocurrency and blockchain. It’s what Development Micro has coined the “crypto-monetized net” (CMW). However the place there’s cash to be made and customers to be scammed, cybercrime is rarely distant. The important thing can be to go off cyber-threats earlier than they’ve time to make a critical influence—and that may require motion from customers and the net organizations they work together with.
What’s the CMW?
Within the CMW period, each web consumer has a cryptocurrency-related financial worth. Customers can spend forex on different folks, like content material creators, driving up their repute worth. Successfully, a consumer’s on-line repute turns into a tradeable good or funding alternative, like firm inventory. There are already web sites on the market enabling this new paradigm.
Bitclout is a Twitter-like web site that has carried out simply such a repute system. Whereas customers can learn, like and reshare content material simply as they’d on Twitter, in addition they have the choice to purchase the Bitclout cash (presently referred to as DESO) of creators they like or assume will make a very good funding. There are different CMW-like variations of widespread platforms like Fb (Privi), YouTube (Glass) and Spotify (Audius). Some leverage frequent cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, whereas others have their very own devoted zones. In time, we might see the large platforms begin to purchase these firms or develop their very own home-grown CMW capabilities.
Hazard lurking
Ye,t within the digital world, there are all the time people ready to pounce. The Development Micro report warns of a number of CMW assault eventualities, together with:
Identification theft by way of hijacking user-profiles and stealing their cryptocurrency, or utilizing widespread accounts to unfold malware and/or scams
Pretend content material creation by way of account hijacking might have a better influence provided that many creators within the CMW world would have a tremendously loyal following
Pump and dump schemes would even be potential by way of account hijacking of widespread creators or by utilizing “bots” made up of low-value stolen or hijacked accounts. By artificially inflating the worth of a creator account the prison has already invested in at a low worth, they’ll money out with a windfall
Information breaches have develop into much more monetizable within the CMW world, the place hackers might pay money for account log-ins for widespread creators. The potential monetary achieve might even incentivize menace actors to interrupt password hashes usually stolen as a part of these breaches
Cash laundering would even be a beautiful choice for cyber-criminals trying to make investments dubiously obtained funds in on-line consumer reputations earlier than cashing out and transferring on
Ransom may very well be one other widespread tactic within the CMW world if menace actors handle to hijack widespread sufficient accounts. They might even threaten to cut back the reputational worth of a hijacked account—i.e., by posting offensive feedback—if the ransom isn’t paid rapidly sufficient
To be clear, the CMW period might by no means daybreak. However as with something cybersecurity-related, the earlier we anticipate the threats and bake in mitigations, the higher. To search out out extra, learn our fascinating new paper on the subject: The Crypto-monetized Internet. A forward-looking thought experiment.
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