The huge increase in Bitcoin prices in recent years – the price is 10 times higher than in early 2017 – has caused hackers and criminals to target bitcoin holders.
The sharp swings in the price of bitcoin, which remains highly volatile, have failed to stop hackers, who are betting that bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies will hold at least some value.
Researchers are warning of a previously known malware strain, dubbed “Save Yourself,” which was not only designed to try to extort victims – but can also compromise bitcoin wallets and other cryptocurrencies.
Criminals are constantly using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies because of their relatively anonymous nature.
Victims targeted by the malware, which claims that the computer has been hijacked, receive an email claiming to have recorded them viewing pornographic content and threatening to post the footage unlessthey are paid in bitcoin — a practice known as "sextortion."
“The malware is responsible for sending a large number of spam emails as part of a sextortion campaign, where the goal is to mislead the recipient into believing that their computer has been infected and that details of their browsing of pornographic websites will be published unless they pay the money,” said security researchers at Reason Security.
“The malware uses the computer as a station to send extortion messages to users and uses the processor to mine monero. To keep a low profile, the malware will only use 50% of the CPU … [and] can also read clipboard data and replace bitcoin wallet with its own.”
Researchers warned that devices infected with the email-sending malware are able to "attract more than 100,000 users in a very short period of time thanks to the malware's ability to spread.".
Scammers have also been spotted including sensitive information such as email passwords in bitcoin sextortion emails, believed to have been gathered from data breaches .
Bitcoin seeing its price go from $1,000 per bitcoin to almost $20,000 in less than 12 months helps us conclude that criminals have begun targeting cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, cybersecurity experts have also reported that criminals are switching from bitcoin to litecoin, another cryptocurrency, in order to avoid detection by spam filters.
