Crypto exchanges in Switzerland being targeted by Trojan horses

Switzerland’s Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance (MELANI) recently published its 27th semi-annual report, focusing on major cybersecurity attacks on Switzerland in the first half of 2018, and thus underlining the fact that security of cryptocurrency exchanges is far from optimal.

According to the report, the Swiss internet space has been plagued by phishing and malware, especially those aiming at cryptocurrency exchanges. Such attacks, which were earlier directed towards online banking platforms, have now shifted to cryptocurrency exchanges with the rise of cryptocurrencies.

Among the most major malware to have affected Swiss cybersecurity is a computer virus which mines Monero. The virus, Dridex has been authored by the nefarious Necurs, the botnet which was previously responsible for delivering some of the worst banking Trojans and ransomware threats in batches of millions of emails at a time, and the attribute of reinventing itself. Dridex was previously known as Bugat and Cridex. This malware targeted several cryptocurrency exchanges in the first half of the year.

The Gozi Trojan is another name on the list which shifted its target from banks to crypto asset platforms. The trojan was designed to gain access into exchanges within the shortest possible time using ‘maldvertising’. Gozi Trojan target users with advertisements luring them into downloading infected software. The researchers explained in the report -

“In search engines, the advertisements are often displayed above the actual results, (which) leads to confusion among users.”

The trojan has been ranked as the ninth most dangerous cybersecurity threat in Switzerland.

The Monerominer (XMR) has also become a menace for Swiss cybersecurity. The malware was ranked as the sixth most pervasive malware threat found in the Swiss internet space within the first half of 2018. The malware application operates by gaining access to users’ systems without their consent. The seriousness of XMR was realised when security researchers found that more than two million previously undiscovered variations of the supposedly neutral CoinHive script were released in just three months.

These growing cyber security problems are being attributed to the unregulated nature of cryptocurrency transactions and the lack of security on cryptocurrency exchanges. The issue of regulation is being worked upon by governments across the world, but concerning the security of crypto platforms, it is the development teams which will have to put in more efforts for fortifying the platforms against attacks.

Bittoria is a cryptocurrency exchange which will enable cryptocurrency enthusiasts to trade in BTC, ETH, XRP and LTC with USD, EUR, GBP and CHF. The exchange has been designed in accordance with CCSS principles to offer maximum security to users’ funds. The exchange will also roll out support for crypto-to-crypto transactions on the same platform soon in European jurisdictions initially and then expand to other parts of the world. Stay tuned for updates!