This week, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued an industry-wide warning about possible attacks on exchanges and holders of cryptocurrencies. The institute said there are threats that actively track virtual asset platforms to take over these assets, causing financial losses in the process. Sim trading, account theft, and tech support staff are the means of carrying out these attacks.
The FBI expects cryptocurrency attacks
Last week, the FBI issued a warning against impending attacks on exchanges and cryptocurrency holders. The alert was distributed using the TLP protocol, which is designed to distribute the desired information with certain groups. It received the Green designation, which means the FBI allows colleagues and partner organizations in the crypto community to share this information.
The FBI says there are groups actively following vulnerabilities in these companies to take action. Explain that these groups use a group of techniques to achieve these means. These techniques include sim trading, tech support fraud, and account theft. The notice also provides some recommendations for institutions to keep their properties safe: keep an eye on their inbox and monitor accounts for unusual movements.
The FBI advises cryptocurrency holders to always use two-factor authentication and be aware of the information they share on social media. However, it is very difficult to prevent sim swapping attacks.
Exchange of sim
Sim Swap Attacks are difficult to deal with because they are relatively easy to complete. The attacker only needs to obtain the potential victim's phone number. So these attackers proceed in two different forms: The first involves identity theft, with the attackers tricking technical representatives into believing that the person concerned has lost or damaged the SIM card. This prompts them to issue a new SIM card to the attacker.
The other carrier concerns the internal contacts of a telephone operator. The attacker uses this contact to get a new sim with the potential victim's number. This allows them to gain access from exchanges even if there is some sort of multi-factor authentication defense in place. The FBI has already warned of these dangers.
Some high-profile sim trading cases have been in the public domain: Michael Terpin, a blockchain investor, sued AT&T for $ 200 million in damages for negligence after suffering a sin swap attack in 2020. A judge eventually dismissed the lawsuit, but put sim swapping and cryptocurrencies in the public eye. Furthermore, Europol thwarted a sim trading operation that had stolen more than $ 100 worth of cryptocurrencies last February. What do you think of the FBI's latest warning about possible cryptocurrency attacks? Let us know in the comments section below.
