Bitcoin is anticipated to be attractive as a payment choice for cybercriminals with the improvement in tracking technologies and the regulations around the crypto world. In this way, the malicious actors’ capability to securely transfer funds has been upset nowadays. A report was published on the behalf of the cybersecurity company Kaspersky recently to provide more attention to this.
Kaspersky Reports that Enhanced Tracking and Regulation Compels Cybercriminals to Leave Bitcoin
In that report, the company mentioned that ransomware-related payments and negotiations would witness much less dependence on Bitcoin in terms of the transfer value. The report specified that the reason behind this is that an elevation in the regulation as well as the use of tracking technologies would compel the bad actors to stay at a distance from Bitcoin as well as the rest of the methods.
It has been previously reported that the ransomware payments in crypto went beyond the figure of $600M in 2021. A few of the largest heists like the Colonial Pipeline assault demanded Bitcoin in ransom. As disclosed by Kaspersky, the crypto frauds have amplified in number in addition to the digital assets’ augmented adoption.
Nonetheless, the antivirus company noted that people have gained more knowledge about crypto and the chances are likely less for them to fall prey to primitive frauds like the deepfake videos of Elon Musk which promised high crypto returns. Kaspersky predicted that cybercriminals will keep on attempting to steal funds via bogus non-fungible tokens (NFT), and initial token offerings (ITOs).
Crypto scams to Spread More in the Future
As per the firm, crypto-based theft including smart contract fraud will get more prevalent and advanced. The current year has seen extensive bridge exploits and up to $2.5B worth has in advance been drained in this respect, according to the reports. The report moved on to clarify that those who download the malware will become the preferred target of the hacking firms because it is difficult to detect them.
Kaspersky suggested that a shift might be witnessed in the mode of activities done by the ransomware attackers from damaging financial operations to precise and politically-based demands. Apart from that, the report indicated a huge escalation in “info stealers” during the present and the previous year. These are the programs responsible for collecting private information like logins.