There are a number of reasons to be apprehensive about getting into the crypto space. Volatility is a major concern — some cryptocurrencies fluctuate in value hundreds of percentage points in a day — and there is no beginning or end to the investment day to allow investors to cool off and collect themselves. Every whim, fear, and theory can play a major role in the value of your cryptocurrency. But that’s not even the biggest concern when it comes to investing in cryptocurrency — theft is probably one of the things that keeps the most people out of this space.
There are many different ways to buy, sell, and store your cryptocurrency. Unfortunately, many of those ways are not terribly secure. Several years ago a Magic: The Gathering gaming site called Mt. Gox had somehow gotten involved in trading cryptocurrency only to have $473 million worth of users’ cryptocurrency stolen by Russian hackers. Though it was handling approximately 70% of Bitcoin transactions at the time, it was ultimately forced into bankruptcy.
There are many different methods hackers employ to gain access to your cryptocurrency wallet. Brute-forcing involves software that guesses all your possible passwords until it comes up with one — the same technology often used by wallet recovery services. Hackers can also phone-port your info relatively easily by calling customer service and pretending to be you and changing the phone number associated with the account. And of course, phishing is a tried and true old standard.
When deciding which cryptocurrency to buy you have a lot of decisions to make, and how secure that cryptocurrency will be should be at the top of your list of considerations. Take the time to figure out how to store and use your cryptocurrency in a safe manner so that you don’t fall victim to the rising crime of crypto theft. Learn more from this infographic provided by CryptoGo.
What do you think of crypto-theft? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
