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Yep, crime is all relative. Cryptocurrencies fullfill a very important need - how else would I accept my ransomware payments?
by nexthash 6y ago
Yep, crime is all relative. Cryptocurrencies fullfill a very important need - how else would I accept my ransomware payments?
- chordalkeyboard 6y agoIts not all relative but surely you recognize that theres a difference between malum prohibitum and malum in se?
- Nextgrid 6y agoBefore cryptocurrencies, ransomware would use gift cards or vouchers such as PaySafecard. Even if ransom payments were made completely impossible, it would just move the problem - malware operators would then trade the stolen data directly or use it to extort users or profit from it in some other way. Hell, the stolen data itself could become a currency. Also, how large of a part does ransomware play in criminal use of cryptocurrencies? Finally, you could argue that "honest" ransomware (in the sense that they keep their promise not to further misuse the stolen data if the ransom is paid - which they have an incentive to keep otherwise the entire business model would collapse) provides a market-driven solution to security & privacy breaches, something that governments still can't solve as demonstrated by the Equifax case.
- user-the-name 6y agoBefore cryptocurrencies, ransomware was a tiny fraction of what it is now. Cryptocurrencies have allowed ransomware to grow massively.