Bitcoin Held Ransom By Aptly Named Malware

A malicious software called WannaCry hit bitcoin users in over 150 countries late last week. The malware was able to gain access to 200,000 bitcoin wallets and lock them down, stealing the XBT files that contained users’ currency. The hackers demanded a ransom of $300 for each stolen account. So far, three wallets have been connected to the WannaCry malware, but authorities have not been able to track down the person/people responsible for the attack.

At this time, it is estimated that WannaCry has taken just over $50,000 in ransom collections. Unfortunately, authorities are urging people not to pay the ransom, because those who have paid it have not received their BTC back. It’s like these hackers are dishonest, or something.

While $300 worth of bitcoins might not seem like much – especially given the fact that BTC was trading at just under $1,850 at the time of the attack – WannaCry hit hundreds of thousands of computers all over the world. Not to mention, bitcoin has been growing astronomically in value and is expected to continue this upward trend for some time.

Experts are predicting that with Japan legitimizing bitcoin, the SEC looking into making it an ETF, and markets in Eastern European countries becoming more open to the idea of regulating bitcoin, BTC values could reach over $3,000 by this time next year. So even if it seems like WannaCry isn’t asking all that much for their “ransom”, letting it sit while the value goes up could return quite a sum of money to the hacker.

So you might be asking yourself how you can protect your bitcoin, especially after a cyber attack where the hackers haven’t been caught and more than likely won’t be caught.

Well, there are definitely some precautions you can take. First of all, don’t use just any wallet to store your funds in. Never, ever, EVER use an online wallet. They are centralized, which takes away from the entire point of decentralized currency. These are the easiest to hack and are more likely to get hit by both spyware and malware.

ReviewBitcoin.com recommends you use a hardware wallet. You can’t download anything on it, so spyware and malware are immediately eliminated as threats. They come with a little remote control that gives you the ability to easily conduct transactions while keeping the majority of your funds in cold storage. The only other wallet that comes close to this level of security is a paper wallet, but those can be destroyed or lost much easier than hardware wallets can. Hardware wallets protect your funds better than any other kind of wallet.

Choosing the correct wallet to store your BTC in is imperative. That’s because there’s no FDIC for bitcoin. Once someone hacks your account, those funds are theirs to do with as they wish. So it’s up to you to make sure that you don’t have a wallet that can easily be hacked. You also need to set up strong password protection, so that your private key remains just that – private. Don’t share it with anyone. Don’t store it online with your Netflix password. That private key needs to be as private as possible. Your bitcoin is as safe as you make it.