Page 64 - Veritas

64 MILLION CRYPTOCURRENCY

HACK

Mr. Varun Gupta

Introduction:
Introduction:
67 million USD worth of bitcoin was stolen from a Cryptocurrency-mining
marketplace that connected people in need of computer processing power

to point those who have the power to spare to mine for Cryptocurrency.
In return, payment was made in bitcoins. “Through tactics, techniques, and

procedures, the theft was ultimately linked to Hidden Cobra, a threat actor
with ties to North Korea. While not too technically advanced, this attack

was executed with military precision, taking advantage of common security
weaknesses found in many start-ups, resulting in an unprecedented finan-

cial theft.”

Before going further, we should now understand some terms like Crypto-
currency and Social Engineering.

Cryptocurrency: “A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is
Cryptocurrency:
secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit
or double-spend. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based

on blockchain technology—a distributed ledger enforced by a disparate
network of computers. A defining feature of cryptocurrencies is that they

are generally not issued by any central authority, rendering them theo-
retically immune to government interference or manipulation”. Some of

the examples of cryptocurrency are Bitcoin, Basic Attention Token (BAT),
Ethereum, etc.

Social Engineering:
Social Engineering: “Social engineering is the act of tricking someone into
divulging information or acting, usually through technology. The idea be-
hind social engineering is to take advantage of a potential victim’s natural

tendencies and emotional reactions. To access a computer network, the
typical hacker might look for a software vulnerability. A social engineer,

though, could pose as a technical support person to trick an employee into
divulging their login credentials. The fraudster is hoping to appeal to the

VERITAS 49