Europol Releases Report on Mining Malware, Crypto Hacks and Illegal Financing

During the last couple of years, there have been several debates related to the link between cryptocurrencies and illegal activities. Now, the Europol has released a report discussing digital currency-related hacks, extortion attempts and mining malware.

The ‘Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2018’, published by the European law enforcement organization, warns about the rising threats in cyber-security and focuses on the potential risks that crypto users face.

With this in mind, money laundering remains a possibility, due to the decentralized status of cryptocurrency exchanges. According to the report, "Money launderers have evolved to use cryptocurrencies in their operations and are increasingly facilitated by new developments such as decentralised exchanges which allow exchanges without any Know Your Customer requirements. It is likely that high-privacy cryptocurrencies will make the current mixing services and tumblers obsolete."

When it comes down to illegal and terrorist financing, the Europol has determined that cryptocurrencies hold clear potential in these areas. Yet, “None of the attacks carried out on European soil appear to have been funded via cryptocurrencies (…) The use of cryptocurrencies by terrorist groups has only involved low-level transactions – their main funding still stems from conventional banking and money remittance services."

Online criminals are indeed using cryptocurrencies for illegal payments via the internet. Bitcoin has lost some of the market share here, granted the appearance of more anonymity-oriented coins like Monero and Zcash.

Crypto jacking or illegal crypto mining is becoming a bigger concern for computer, tablet and smartphone users. According to the report, illicit crypto-mining attacks have grown 956% in the last year, as attackers install hidden miners in website codes, and hence take advantage of users’ processing power to mine various coins.  If no attempt is made to end this practice, it will end up becoming a regular, yet low-risk activity and revenue source for cybercriminals worldwide.

So far, crypto jacking attempts have surpassed the once-popular ransomware attacks.                             

Based on everything that has been outlined so far, the Europol report helps us understand more about the darker-side of cryptocurrencies and their potential in online, illicit undertakings. Despite this, fiat currency use in criminal activities is considerably higher.