4 ms·
> and all but saying that the reason there are hackings to things like critical infrastructure is because crypto exists Just to play devil's advocate, how do y
by jlmorton 5y ago
> and all but saying that the reason there are hackings to things like critical infrastructure is because crypto exists
Just to play devil's advocate, how do you imagine ransomware would work outside of crypto?
There had been a few toy ransomware attacks before Bitcoin, but the regulated payment industry ultimately prevented any major ransomware industry from developing.
Bitcoin has changed all of that. Since the release of CryptoLocker, the industry has exploded into a multi-billion dollar racket.
From my perspective, this industry did not and cannot exist absent cryptocurrency.
I don't think this is cause to shutdown crypto convertibility, but it also can't be dismissed out of hand.
- nscalf 5y agoI’m not too well read into this space, but I would argue a large cause in the boom of hacking is external to crypto. The fact that so much monetary value and information has moved online would make me believe the pie was by growing regardless of crypto. The article points out the Biden administration being unsure of how to tackle the hacking problem, but governmental infrastructure being hacked is not a monetary extraction problem, it’s a national security problem. I’m much more concerned about power companies being shut down than Target leaking customer records, for example. I definitely won’t say crypto isn’t used effectively for ransomware payments, it’s obviously the current go to. My issue is the article seems to reduce it down to ceteris paribus, hacking wouldn’t be a problem. When many of the bad actors here are nation states, that is not a valid argument.