Crypto Security Explained


A South Korean leader for trading Ether and cryptocurrency Bithumb has experienced a severe cyber attack, resulting in over $1 Million stolen Bitcoins from the users all over the world.

In addition to the loss of cryptocurrency, a number of users (31800 to be exact) were faced with the possible identity theft, as the cyber criminals have managed to obtain their personal information, anything from their names and mobile phone numbers all the way to their email addresses.

The breach was discovered on June 29 and reported to the South-Korean government the following day.

As Bithumb stated, about 3% of their users have been affected, losing hundreds of millions in South Korean Won. 

The main culprit for the breach, as Bithumb has found, is one of its employee’s home computers.

Namely, though many people suspected that it was the main server that was hacked, it was eventually discovered that the breach stemmed from a private computer of Bithumb employee.

The other reason why the attack had such a severe effect on so many users according to the company is the users themselves.

Namely, according to Bithumb the reason why many users got targeted is because they kept using the disposable passwords for online digital transactions.
Many of the users suffered great losses, with a certain member reporting over a 1,2 billion won loss. 

For comparison purposes, 1 billion won is about $870,000.

Next to the hacker attack, some Bithumb users reported ‘voice phishing’, claiming that someone phoned them up claiming to be from Bithumb only to scam them out of their funds.

As the number of Bithumb users who filed the complaints with the National Police Agency continues to grow from day to day, we are starting to wonder what we can do and how we can help to keep our cryptocurrency safe.  

How to Secure Bitcoins through offline hardware wallet

As highly complex units, modern operating systems provide a large attack surface pulling in hackers from all over the world. 

In addition, they are also responsible for leaking information without users knowing about it.

All these make it impossible for a user to have a completely secure wallet on an Internet connected PC. 

So the question arises: where can you keep your Bitcoins if anyone can hack your Internet-connected PC? 

One of the solutions is found in cold storage, an offline wallet that restricts all attempts of unauthorized access.

As cold storage is set on a device that is never connected to the Internet, the chances for a breach are minimal.

Cold storage is usually an old laptop that is never online.

Great as the traditional cold storage is, there is still a problem with the online trading of Bitcoins.

After all, Bitcoins are made for online usage, rather than offline storage. 

Namely, once the laptop is connected to the Internet, there’s a possibility of a cyber attack.

A more advanced solution to the hacker problems comes in the form of a hardware wallet, a small computer so to say, that protects private keys from either offline or online risks.

The private keys are kept at bay from the Internet as they are stored in a protected area of the device and can’t be transferred out of the device. 

Hence all the transactions need to be confirmed within the device. 

Hardware wallets are also immune to viruses, thus allowing the user to connect its hardware wallet to an infected computer and still keep 100% control over the Bitcoins found on the device.

The best hardware wallets come with screens for some extra security.

As portable hardware wallets are virtually impossible to hack, the information displayed on their screens is often far more accurate than information displayed on the PC.  

Another advantage of hardware wallets is that in case the device gets stolen or lost, it can be safely recovered without compromising privacy keys.

An interest in crypto currencies has never been stronger.

With the prices surging to their all-time highs, $2600 per Bitcoin and Ethereum at $260, the future of crypto currency seems to be bright. 

But when it comes to keeping all those Bitcoins and Ethereum safe and sound, it does blur a bit.

We don’t know what to expect with so many hacker attacks, targeting both individuals and giant corporations.

But one thing is for certain, we need to protect our data and our crypto currencies immediately!

Best CRYPTO Hardware wallets for Cold Storage

It is recommended to deploy a hardware wallet to make sure your Crypto is secured.

There are several hardware wallets to choose from that not only can hold Ethreum but also several other crypto currencies.

Other Crypto currencies includes: BItcoin, Dash, Litecoin, Zcash, Monero, Decred.

The preferred wallets are Trezor or Ledger wallets.

There are different sizes and price ranges for what the user chooses.