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> are only possible because of crypto Perhaps they were first figured out because of crypto, but now that the genie is out of the bottle they can't be regulate
by LeifCarrotson 3y ago
> are only possible because of crypto
Perhaps they were first figured out because of crypto, but now that the genie is out of the bottle they can't be regulated away. They'll continue to be possible even if the government of a victim nation cracks down on Bitcoin.
As long as:
1. Computers are complicated, it will be possible to trick users into running software that does things they don't want, and
2. Factoring numbers is harder than multiplying numbers, it will be possible to use asymmetric cryptography to encrypt those files, and
3. Money can be sent across international borders, because rich countries want to buy cheap stuff from poor countries, and
4. Jurisdiction ends at national borders, so Russian gangs won't get prosecuted for receiving money from American/European victims,
ransomware will continue.
Sure, Viagra spam stopped working when credit card companies cracked down because while someone will send $100 over a credit card in the privacy of their home, if you make it too difficult they're going to give up.
But the corporate ransomware model doesn't cease to work if instead of having your negotiation team turn the corporation's cash into Bitcoins they instead have to go to Western Union and turn it into rubles. We're talking about a $100M transaction, heck, you could charter a plane to Russia and it would be a rounding error in the end.
- tw04 3y ago> But the corporate ransomware model doesn't cease to work if instead of having your negotiation team turn the corporation's cash into Bitcoins they instead have to go to Western Union and turn it into rubles. We're talking about a $100M transaction, heck, you could charter a plane to Russia and it would be a rounding error in the end. Do you seriously think that: A. Any western union on the planet keeps $10m cash on hand or even 10% of that? B. The US would even allow western union to participate? Crypto is absolutely a requirement for this racket to work.
- lowercased 3y agoI thought I'd heard that the initial compromise was social engineering to get some initial access to a tech person's account. ? All your 4 points stand, but social engineering may be making a comeback too.
- btilly 3y agoSocial engineering never went away. I'm personally waiting for the first public reports of criminal gangs using Chat GPT to automate spear phishing at scale. I'm sure it is happening already, but the victims are keeping it quiet. The use case is too obvious. Identify key people in an organization from the website, Linked In, etc. Find them on social media. Find their less technical friends. Compromise the friends' accounts in various ways. Then send targeted phishing attacks to your real target. With every step of this automated by LLMs.