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Fake Mt. Gox Pages Aim To Infect Bitcoin Users
An anonymous reader writes "Mt. Gox is the the largest Bitcoin exchange in the world, and as such it and its users are being repeatedly targeted by attackers. Some two months ago, it battled a massive DDoS attack that was likely aimed at destabilizing the virtual currency and allow the criminals to profit from the swings. Now, according to Symantec researchers, the criminals have turned to spoofing Mt. Gox' site and tricking its customers into downloading malware — the Ponik downloader Trojan, which is also able to steal passwords."
We've already had Apple vs. Samsung this week, plus the oblig swipe at Windows, so tomorrow, it must be another Rasperry Pi story, eh?
Those who think Bitcoin will be the next serious world currency, dumb enough to be great phishing targets.
I would give up the whole lot of you on both sides, your just going to get you poor inefficient heads cracked with my Alpha waves a in flood of 'jackpots' from your tiny pipes. Call it a 'Utility' that you will pay for with your lives ... Then there is Beta testing .... give up and dream on !
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Time to add slashdot.org to my hosts file.
I more believe this to be the work of American banking system than commirrades !!
Gox gives a free yubi to anyone with more then loose change in there. Last time I looked, malware don't work on 2factor...
Are always the weakest link.
"according to Symantec..." who probably wrote the malware to scare the stuffing outa noobs... Lol Symantec, Lol.
Actually, given the outrightly criminal nature of that banking system, this is not an unreasonable suggestion. We already know that the likes of HFT companies regulalry engage in DDoS attacks against exchanges, so the skillset for this kind of work is there.
May the Maths Be with you!
I know it's tin-foil hat thinking... but my first thought was, "Are we sure it was 'aimed at destabilizing the virtual currency and allow the criminals to profit from the swings' or was it someone else trying to destabilize the currency to make people lose any faith they might have had."
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
Unfortunately, almost all bitcoin users are a lot smarter than that. If their browser's security features, their antivirus, and their common sense don't all tip them off that it's not the real MTGox, they probably shouldn't be bitcoin users.
Interesting that the top two 'Related links' for this story are both stories about printable guns, at least in the pageview I'm getting right now, the third is about DNA collection after arrest, the fourth about how all your data are belong US and the fifth about PETA eants to sue people. Perhaps /. doesn't have any other stories about bitcoin, phishing, DDOS, Symantec, trojans or other malware.
Korma: Good
Time to add slashdot.org to my hosts file.
Let's face it, this is one of the last sites on the Web where you can troll anonymously or actually post a real opinion without having to register and all that horseshit .
This kind of garbage is why money works best when regulated and maintained by a government.
I don't respond to AC's.
The fake Mt Gox sites are found on domains such as mtgox.org, mtgox.net. Existing customers and Bitcoin early adopters will likely not fall for this. This is likely targeting the non-tech-savvy followers who just heard through the media about a currency that can make you rich or a cool way to buy drugs. A search or two will unlikely lead a potential victim to one of these fake sites, so they are depending on the advertising. Details are scarce on how they are advertising.
[Rent This Space]
I'd be reasonably certain that the criminal answer is the right one.
Here's the "allow bad guys to profit from the swings" plan:
1. DDOS Bitcoin trading sites, and watch the Bitcoin prices drop.
2. Buy some Bitcoins.
3. Stop your DDOS.
4. Bitcoin price goes back up.
5. Sell your Bitcoins at the now higher price.
6. PROFIT!!!
Here's the "Destabilize the currency" plan:
1. DDOS Bitcoin trading sites.
2. Convince everyone who might be considering using Bitcoins to use dollars or Euro or yen or krona or yuan or something.
3. ???
4. PROFIT!!!
One of these has simple and obvious steps from DDOS to profits. The other does not.
I am officially gone from
Since when did anyone but a small group of nerds ever have faith in bitcoin to begin with?
Right because instead of spending their time manipulating the USD, Yen, Euro, etc. to make 100s of millions if not billions of dollars or more the "banking system" is creating malware and DDoSing an exchange for a currency used by a less than a thousandth of 1% of the world. Yeah, real believable.
perhaps your premise is wrong,
maybe its not about profit. maybe its just a FUD game by large established players(govt.) trying to protect their turf (currency)
Because bitcoin is such a threat. Hahahahaha.
Oh, you we're being serious? That's even more funny.
Q: Why do you rob banks?
A: Because that's where the money is stored.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Even though we are supposed to be one of the largest groups of nerds, sure, let's pile stupid FUD.
Bitcoin is part of the NSA... Wait, no, I bet Satoshi is a giant pyramid scheme creator!... Wait, no, it all doesn't matter because Bitcoin is /sure/ to flop, its not like Tor and I2P have hung around or Bitcoin reached a market of $1B which is about enough to make any finance nerd forget about its problems..
You can see that it is too early for decent sarcasm, but seriously, WE ARE /.!! What is with all the stupid NSA and doomsday comments. Do any af you read open source code?? That is what it is for!!!
When comments on /. are riddled with such stupidity, it begs the question if ANY of you are real nerds
Not 'Mount Gox'. Theres no such place.
Its Magic the Gathering Online exchange not Mt. Gox.
But even they refer to it as Mount Gox. Why? Are they trying to distance themselves from the card game?
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
As if anyone at the major banks spends 1/1,000,000th of their day thinking about this sideshow. If they do, it's probably in an advisory capacity to which state or federal government agencies are looking to crack down on this den of drug commerce, child pornography, and money laundering.
Right because instead of spending their time manipulating the USD, Yen, Euro, etc. to make 100s of millions if not billions of dollars or more [BitCoin users use BitCoins, which are] used by a less than a thousandth of 1% of the world. Yeah, real [smart].
Right because instead of spending their time manipulating the USD, Yen, Euro, etc. to make 100s of millions if not billions of dollars or more [BitCoin users use BitCoins, which are] used by a less than a thousandth of 1% of the world. Yeah, real [smart].
The start up costs and complication of manipulating real-world markets (as opposed to fake stuff) are astronomically high. Some governments couldn't manage it if they tried.
On the other hand, one nerd who can dDOS and a couple small time hoods could pull off a BitCoin manipulation scam.
Your arrogance in thinking BitCoin is equivalent to a world market "USD, Yen, Euro, etc." is proof positive that these types of attacks will continue to happen. BitCoin is for stupid people, or smart people acting stupidly.
Conspiracy theorists, unite!
Symantec, in collaboration with the Guild of Calamatious Intent...
"Because bitcoin is such a threat..."
The "Liberty Dollar" wasn't a "threat" either, but they still shut it down, arrested the creator and likened his activity to "domestic terrorism". I kid you not. The Fed. prosecutor said that he was undermining the currency and equated it to "terrorism".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Dollar
The banker-government's greatest power of all is their money monopoly. They stomp on these things HARD as soon as they become "noticeable" and long before they're even a mild threat.
Me too. Destabilizing a completely open peer-to-peer decentralized monetary system that breaks the shackles of government control really doesn't seem like the bag of the hacker community at large. This feels more like a corporate or even government backed venture.
Nuh uh! Butt coins are making the world-wide Jew bankers quake in their boots. This is clearly the more logical connclusion rather than just random criminals making money from stupid nerds.
Why would they do something like that over simply making the currency illegal and arresting anyone for violating laws over minting currency? The conspiracy version makes no logical sense.
Because they have no legal basis for making the currency illegal, no jurisdiction if they did, and no legal technical route that could be used to enforce such a law. That is all assuming government. A corporate player makes just as much sense.
An overt government/corporate attack on Bitcoin could spur public outcry and outrage. That would increase the popularity and the number of people who supported the system making it that much harder to shut down. It might push it to the point of being mainstream.
Why would they do something like that over simply making the currency illegal and arresting anyone for violating laws over minting currency? The conspiracy version makes no logical sense.
Because that wouldn't work. Bitcoin would be driven underground yet still exist, much like alcohol was during prohibition. By outlawing Bitcoin altogether, the government would be giving power to an even worse group than paranoid libertarians.