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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?
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.
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
Details are scarce on how they are advertising.
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The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
This kind of garbage is why money works best when regulated and maintained by a government.
Yes, because under grown-up sensible government controlled money, no phishers ever make fake bank websites.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
I don't see anything about M:tG on their site, certainly not anything saying it's called that. Do you get annoyed any time anyone talks about AT&T and doesn't make sure their audience knows that the company deals in telegraphs (even though they haven't in many, many decades), too?
MITM works on 2-factor just as well as it does on 1-factor.
"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.
Riiiiight, because no one ever counterfeits hard currency, never used it to buy off politicians, never laundered, never dumped, never hoarded, never used it to bribe people, never used it to pay soldiers to murder people, etc.
Just in case you don't get it: A _digital_ NOR a _physical_ currency is NOT immune to the many (government & private) abuses. That is, there are MANY issues with money ... namely its design and mis-implementation.
* http://mises.org/books/whathasgovernmentdone.pdf
* http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul124.html
* http://www.gmlets.u-net.com/explore/problems.html
* http://www.amazon.com/Problem-Money-Its-Not-About/dp/0984502009
When are you going to stop being delusional that some magical pseudo-authority figure is the answer to everyone's perceived problems?
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"Necessity is the Mother of Invention, byt Curiosity is the Father." -- Michaelangel007