What are the three steps to easily steal Bitcoin?

A virtual currency in which the market price has been fluctuating, such as the price which was about 10 dollars at the beginning of the year rose to 100 times as much as the price rose to half price or less in just half a monthBitcoin (bit coin)Although it is a target that is still attractive to hackers, damage by theft remains the same. Three steps that a bit coin hacker is stealing a bit coinThe VergeIt is clarified, how can you prevent bit coins from being stolen? It has come to be understood that.

How to steal Bitcoin in three easy steps | The Verge
http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/19/5183356/how-to-steal-bitcoin-in-three-easy-steps

The first bit coin theft was recorded in June 2011. It is believed that a user named Allinvain was the first to steal a bit coin equivalent to about $ 500,000 (about 52 million yen) by a hacker. The rate at that time was about 10 dollars per BTC (about 1000 yen), so if you convert to the current price, Allinvain will have stolen more than 3 billion yen bit coins.

Since this theft case, a lot of bit coin hacking has been unfolded. Some even have a wallet service company holding a bit coin disappears with the customer's bit coin. Unlike trading by credit card, bit coin has no concept of cancellation, and because the transaction (direction of coin movement) is irreversible, the characteristic that it is impossible to regain the lost bit coin is a great appeal to a bit coin thief It is.

Three important steps taken by The Verge, which a hacker actually steals a bit coin, is as follows.

◆1: Copy encryption key


In the bit coin, there is a transaction record of a bit coin called Block Chain (Block Chain) and an open book that records the current owner. We also have an encryption key (secret key) that can open a specific address by getting a bit coin, and the only evidence that guarantees that this secret key is the owner of a bit coin .

The secret key is a series of character strings composed of mere numbers and alphabet and it is not necessary to record it on-line, for example to print out or save it as a text file on an external hard disk, or to a body as a tattoo It can be kept by keeping it carved. All the security that guarantees the safety of the bit coin is all realized by this secret key, and every transaction concerning the bit coin is done using secret key as well as exchange of bit coin, so bit coin = secret key It is not too much to say.

Then the thing that the hacker targets inevitably becomes a "secret key". Currently, Marujaak Squires who manages the bit coin banking service with a bit coin early adapter recommends creating a physical bit coin wallet that can be used offline, and the secret key of the bit coin can be downloaded online We are alarming the dangers of many bit coin wallets to keep.

Hackers are repeatedly attacking online wallet service, which holds a large number of bit coin secret keys of many users. This straight way is an extremely effective hacking method because you can get a lot of bit coins in hand just by getting the secret key data recorded on the server. However, hacking is not necessarily done from outside hackers. If you are an internal official of the bit coin wallet service, you do not have to hack, you can easily get a bit coin by simply copying the secret key of the service user.

◆2: Money laundering


The next thing a hacker who got a large amount of bit coins safely didMoney launderingis. Because bit chains can track ownership by block chains, not only victims of theft but also people around the world can grasp the path of movement of bit coins. So, the bit coin thief needs to do money laundering to break this pursuit network.

Dedicated software called "tumbler" has been developed for "coin cleaning". Tumbler makes tracking difficult by mixing stolen "dirty" bit coins with each other. Tumbler subdivides bit coins and moves between addresses by interchanging a certain amount of bit coins over time. Also, Tumblers are anonymous networksTorEven if you try to follow the distribution route of stolen bit coins, the ownership history of bit coins scattered at various addresses will be enormous, so in the end it will not be possible for hackers behind It is realistically extremely difficult work to get there.

However, According to The Verge, bit coin hackers need to pay attention to whether the software is reliable when using the tumblers. It is because the possibility that the creator of the tumbler is a hacker who intercepts the bit coin from a hacker who steals the bit coin is a necessity.

◆3: exchange money


The last act done by a hacker who got a "clean" bit coin that steals a lot of bit coins and finished with a tumbler cleansing money is to exchange bit coins to currencies approved by governments. However, if you have too many bit coins, currency exchange is not easy. If you forcibly exchange a large amount of money, you will immediately gather attention and as a result you can use it as a bit coin theft.

Because the bit coin market is still immature, bit coins are poor in liquidity, so finding a buyer to cash a large amount of bit coins in one transaction can be a difficult task at present. So, in exchange for making a big discount from the trading market, searching for a financial buyer who will respond to the deal without revealing identity is a quick exchange method.

However, the most risk-free way is to exchange money little by little while possessing bit coins. It is the most safe way to consume bit coins thoroughly over several months and years. Of course, no one will guarantee that the bit coin market can maintain the price like this until the cash is all done ....