BlockWorld 2018

The birth of cryptocurrency has changed the threat landscape making it easier for malicious actors to get paid and remain anonymous. The days of ransomware payments being paid in cryptocurrency are not over, but the more ominous threats facing us now are cryptojacking, botnets turned miners, and crypto phishing. With the rocketing cryptocurrency market cap soaring up to $835 billion in early January the name of the game is computing power and it is only going to get worse as cryptocurrency becomes more mainstream. The cryptocurrency market is volatile, where daily 30% swings are not uncommon. This is a double-edged sword for malicious actors. Payouts could drastically increase or decrease in value over the course of months, weeks, or even days. This can enable malicious actors to purchase extra hosting infrastructure, buy additional malware programs on the dark web, buy a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, or even walk away penniless if the market doesn’t move in their favor. The potential for 2x, 5x, or even 100x returns on the cryptocurrency obtained from exploiting your environment is entirely within possibility. Join me for a dive into the crypto cyber security space, steps you should take to protect your environment, and how security researchers combat malicious actors using crypto to fund their activities.