Cryptocurrency trend is about to change the world as we know it. Every day we see new projects emerge and challenge the business models we are used to. Where valuable assets are stored, exchanged or processed — dark side of technology kicks in. The financial sector is number one target for hackers and fraudsters. In cryptocurrency’s case stakes are even higher as anonymity and ability to use illegally obtained assets is in place by design. The world’s first blockchain powered social platform for women Moms Avenue gathered some useful information about protecting your investments.
In this article, the risks that correspond to scam ICO’s where the initial idea is to collect investments and shut the project down with minimal legal damage will not be covered. Instead, Moms Avenue will guide you through the cyber risks of ICO. If you decided to step into the shoes of ICO investors here are the main risks you should look out for.
The member of Moms Avenue advisory board Martynas Savickas, who is a Head of Information and IT security in the banking sector, says that phishing is the most simple and yet most successful type of attack observed so far. It can involve email as message distribution channel or even sponsored online ads that lead to a fraudulent website or investment platform. Fake social media accounts, web pages, chat channels and all other ways that intend to impersonate legitimate project. If you get tricked into it you will lose your investment irreversibly. After a contact with the company running ICO the best you can hear will be…. “We are sorry for your loss”.
We truly believe that companies put huge efforts to protect each investor, but this is something they are not in control. From investor’s perspective assurance in each step is essential. The ICO window can vary from several minutes to several weeks. You should check and ensure every piece of information you collect about the project is legit. Website address spoofing and content replication seem to be very basic and primitive way of attack. However, it is one of the most successful hoax.
Project platform and app cyber attacks are no news to web applications or infrastructure hacks. Same techniques and same threats apply to online banking services. However, in this case, the company running ICO is fully responsible for resilience and protection of the assets. Major losses due to cyber attacks might easily lead to project failure in early stages. Security controls and solutions are pretty expensive and not every ICO can afford those. Open source solutions are an option, but it requires effort by project developers. The web app, infrastructure and internet facing, cloud services, all ICO related systems and up to developer workstation is an object of the attack that might lead to major issues.
Before getting into ICO, it is not enough to collect information about the crypto economy, project roadmap or look through the advisory board. Moms Avenue team, who is preparing to it’s pre-ICO on December 11th, strongly suggests to raise “how do you….?” questions regarding security as well. How do you perform code security analysis? Who is responsible for information security within your project? How do you treat personal data?
If you plan to throw in one-third of ETH into the project — you can accept the risks, but if you are looking into long-term investment this should be a must and in top questions of your ICO assessment checklist.
If you want to make a bet on the entrepreneurial talents of women everywhere, then you should support Moms Avenue and join the pre-ICO sale.
Moms Avenue Token Sale starts on 11 December 2017 at 12:00 GMT+0, and ends on 25 December 2017 at 12:00 GMT+0. For additional information and terms of the sale please visit the Moms Avenue website or telegram group.
Note: Information regarding the token sale will ONLY be disseminated on our official communication channels: our official website and our official telegram group.
Learn more about Moms Avenue — http://www.momsavenue.com
Whitepaper https://github.com/Moms-Avenue/Docs/blob/master/White_Paper-Moms_Avenue_Platform.pdf
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