A run-down of common individual crypto hacks in 2019

The year thus far has brought with it a slew of publicity regarding large scale exchange hacks and exit scams, and we’re only in February. With that said, something rarely is reported on is the hacking of individual-owned crypto assets, through a variety and ever more complex set of methods employed by nefarious actors exploiting the immutability and pseudonymity of cryptocurrency transactions. These features, while extraordinary in their ability to financially empower individuals, allow bad actors to avoid much chance of repercussion for the theft of cryptocurrency, which acts as an enormous deterrent for victims to ever consider using public blockchains in the future. The methods employed to separate legitimate crypto owners from their assets have evolved with the blockchains themselves, so it is worth examining some of the most common hacks people are being targeted with at present with explanations for how these might happen. Below is a list of four such methods, which all see bad actors utilize in 2019.

1. Phishing

The most common individual crypto hack is that done by phishing — attempting to trick individuals into providing their passwords and/or second-factor authentication for exchanges, or the private keys for their crypto wallets themselves. These attempts vary from crude and obvious — sending emails with links to forms requesting this information, to complex — developing websites which look almost identical to legitimate exchanges and requesting login details. This is not unique to cryptocurrencies — phishing existed long before Bitcoin, and is used to extract online banking access or more commonly for third party payment platforms like Paypal. Some hackers attempt both — a recent Medum post goes into remarkable detail as to the methods used by one Binance and Paypal phisher.