Author Topic: Bitcoin Security  (Read 408 times)

Ben

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Bitcoin Security
« on: June 08, 2021, 10:55:57 AM »
So I mentioned a while back that I was investigating putting at least some money in crypto. Seemed like a good diversification idea. I'll likely still do it, but this latest with Bitcoin is kind of a negative regarding one of the reasons to have crypto: Security and privacy.

For those that didn't hear, fed.gov cyber guys broke into the crypto accounts used by the colonial pipeline hackers and got most of the Bitcoin back for Colonial. I mean, good for Colonial, and the bad guys deserve it, but crypto investment is something some people want to do so that people like the gov can't grab their money, like they can via your bank holdings.
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K Frame

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Re: Bitcoin Security
« Reply #1 on: June 08, 2021, 10:59:12 AM »
I know some are saying that the Feebs "broke into" the account, but I'm seeing other reports saying that that's false; that they were able to somehow get the password to the account.
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Ben

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Re: Bitcoin Security
« Reply #2 on: June 08, 2021, 11:36:39 AM »
I know some are saying that the Feebs "broke into" the account, but I'm seeing other reports saying that that's false; that they were able to somehow get the password to the account.

Yeah, it seems info is still sketchy at this point. Again, I still don't know enough about crypto vehicles, but I would think there'd be some two-factor authentication going on, just like when you sign into your regular financial institution. Obtaining a password is still vastly different than breaking crypto, of course.
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K Frame

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Re: Bitcoin Security
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2021, 07:33:30 AM »
CNBC has a story on this also speculating that it was sloppy password handling that let them get the ransom back.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/08/fbi-likely-exploited-sloppy-password-storage-to-seize-colonial-ransom.html
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lee n. field

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Re: Bitcoin Security
« Reply #4 on: June 09, 2021, 10:26:29 AM »
Quote
DarkSide, the cyber criminal gang that targeted Colonial, reportedly used a payment server to collect the funds. A centralized platform like this is relatively easy for the FBI to track.

Quote
What’s much more likely, according to Carter, is that they were able to access a server where the hackers stored private key information. That points not to any fundamental flaw in bitcoin’s security, but rather a case of bad IT hygiene for a criminal organization.

A couple points.   Sounds like bad guys were using Coinbase or one of its many competitors to store their ill gotten gains.

Quote
Just take the 2014 hack of Mt. Gox, once the leading bitcoin exchange. It was the first high-profile hack in cryptocurrency history. The exchange filed for bankruptcy and lost 750,000 of its users’ bitcoins, plus 100,000 of its own.

Mt. Gox bankruptcy still hasn't been settled.  I lost one bitcoin and US$ for another when that fell.  I still get the occasional email from the bankruptcy folks.  "S***'s still happening!"  Yeah, OK.  I might, like, die before that's done.
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WLJ

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Re: Bitcoin Security
« Reply #5 on: June 09, 2021, 10:30:25 AM »
Yet the govt still "can't" find Hillary's and Lois Lerner's e-mails
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