THE:Common Scams on Mobile Devices_APP

CommunitySubmission-Author:WhoTookMyCrypto.com

2017wasaremarkableyearforthecryptocurrencyindustryastheirrapidincreaseinvaluationspropelledthemintomainstreammedia.Unsurprisingly,thisgarneredthemimmenseinterestfromboththegeneralpublicaswellascybercriminals.Therelativeanonymityofferedbycryptocurrencieshasmadethemafavouriteamongstcriminalswhooftenusethemtobypasstraditionalbankingsystemsandavoidfinancialsurveillancefromregulators.

Giventhatpeoplearespendingmoretimeontheirsmartphonesthandesktops,itisthusnotsurprisingthatcybercriminalshavealsoturnedtheirattentiontothem.Thefollowingdiscussionhighlightshowscammershavebeentargetingcryptocurrencyusersthroughtheirmobiledevices,alongwithafewstepsthatuserscantaketoprotectthemselves.

Fakecryptocurrencyapps

Fakecryptocurrencyexchangeapps

Themostwell-knownexampleofafakecryptocurrencyexchangeappisprobablytheoneofPoloniex.PriortothelaunchoftheirofficialmobiletradingappinJuly2018,GooglePlaywasalreadylistingseveralfakePoloniexexchangeapps,whichwereintentionallydesignedtobefunctional.ManyusersthatdownloadedthosefraudulentappshadtheirPoloniexlogincredentialscompromised,andtheircryptocurrencieswerestolen.SomeappsevenwentastepfurtherrequestingthelogincredentialsofusersGmailaccounts.Itisimportanttohighlightthatonlyaccountswithouttwo-factorauthentication(2FA)werecompromised.

Thefollowingstepscanhelpprotectyouagainstsuchscams.

Checktheexchange’sofficialwebsitetoverifyiftheyindeedofferamobiletradingapp.Ifso,usethelinkprovidedontheirwebsite.Readthereviewsandratings.Fraudulentappsoftenhavemanybadreviewswithpeoplecomplainingaboutgettingscammed,somakesuretocheckthembeforeyoudownload.However,youshouldalsobescepticalofappsthatpresentperfectratingsandcomments.Anylegitimateapphasitsfairshareofnegativereviews.Checktheappdeveloperinformation.Lookforwhetheralegitimatecompany,emailaddress,andwebsiteareprovided.Youshouldalsoperformanonlinesearchontheinformationprovidedtoseeiftheyarereallyrelatedtotheofficialexchange.Checkthenumberofdownloads.Thedownloadcountshouldalsobeconsidered.Itisunlikelythatahighlypopularcryptocurrencyexchangewouldhaveasmallnumberofdownloads.Activate2FAonyouraccounts.Althoughnot100%secure,2FAismuchhardertobypassandcanmakeahugedifferenceinprotectingyourfunds,evenifyourlogincredentialsarephished.Fakecryptocurrencywalletapps

Therearemanydifferenttypesoffakeapps.Onevariationseekstoobtainpersonalinformationfromuserssuchastheirwalletpasswordsandprivatekeys.

Insomecases,fakeappsprovidepreviouslygeneratedpublicaddressestousers.Sotheyassumefundsaretobedepositedintotheseaddresses.However,theydonotgainaccesstotheprivatekeysandthusdonothaveaccesstoanyfundsthataresenttothem.

SuchfakewalletshavebeencreatedforpopularcryptocurrenciessuchasEthereumandNeoand,unfortunately,manyuserslosttheirfunds.Herearesomepreventivestepsthatcanbetakentoavoidbecomingavictim:

Theprecautionshighlightedintheexchangeappsegmentaboveareequallyapplicable.However,anadditionalprecautionyoucantakewhendealingwithwalletappsistomakesurebrandnewaddressesaregeneratedwhenyoufirstopentheapp,andthatyouareinpossessionoftheprivatekeys(ormnemonicseeds).Alegitimatewalletappallowsyoutoexporttheprivatekeys,butitisalsoimportanttoensurethegenerationofnewkeypairsisnotcompromised.Soyoushoulduseareputablesoftware(preferablyopensource).Eveniftheappprovidesyouaprivatekey(orseed),youshouldverifywhetherthepublicaddressescanbederivedandaccessedfromthem.Forexample,someBitcoinwalletsallowuserstoimporttheirprivatekeysorseedstovisualizetheaddressesandaccessthefunds.Tominimizetherisksofkeysandseedsbeingcompromised,youmayperformthisonanair-gappedcomputer(disconnectedfromtheinternet).Cryptojackingapps

Cryptojackinghasbeenahotfavoriteamongstcybercriminalsduetothelowbarrierstoentryandlowoverheadsrequired.Furthermore,itoffersthemthepotentialforlong-termrecurringincome.DespitetheirlowerprocessingpowerwhencomparedtoPCs,mobiledevicesareincreasinglybecomingatargetofcryptojacking.

Apartfromweb-browsercryptojacking,cybercriminalsarealsodevelopingprogramsthatappeartobelegitimategaming,utilityoreducationalapps.However,manyoftheseappsaredesignedtosecretlyruncrypto-miningscriptsinthebackground.

Therearealsocryptojackingappsthatareadvertisedaslegitimatethird-partyminers,buttherewardsaredeliveredtotheappdeveloperinsteadoftheusers.

Tomakethingsworse,cybercriminalshavebecomeincreasinglysophisticated,deployinglightweightminingalgorithmstoavoiddetection.

Cryptojackingisincrediblyharmfultoyourmobiledevicesastheydegradeperformanceandaccelerateswearandtear.Evenworse,theycouldpotentiallyactasTrojanhorsesformorenefariousmalware.

Thefollowingstepscanbetakentoguardagainstthem.

Onlydownloadappsfromofficialstores,suchasGooglePlay.Piratedappsarenotpre-scannedandaremorelikelytocontaincryptojackingscripts.Monitoryourphoneforexcessivebatterydrainingoroverheating.Oncedetected,terminateappsthatarecausingthis.Keepyourdeviceandappsupdatedsothatsecurityvulnerabilitiesgetpatched.Useawebbrowserthatguardsagainstcryptojackingorinstallreputablebrowserplug-ins,suchasMinerBlock,NoCoin,andAdblock.Ifpossible,installmobileantivirussoftwareandkeepitupdated.Freegiveawayandfakecrypto-minerapps

Theseareappsthatpretendtominecryptocurrenciesfortheirusersbutdon’tactuallydoanythingapartfromdisplayingads.Theyincentivizeuserstokeeptheappsopenbyreflectinganincreaseintheuser’srewardsovertime.Someappsevenincentivizeuserstoleave5-starratingsinordertogetrewards.Ofcourse,noneoftheseappswereactuallymining,andtheirusersneverreceivedanyrewards.

Toguardagainstthisscam,understandthatforthemajorityofcryptocurrencies,miningrequireshighlyspecializedhardware(ASICs),meaningitisnotfeasibletomineonamobiledevice.Whateveramountsyouminewouldbetrivialatbest.Stayawayfromanysuchapps.

ClipperappsSuchappsalterthecryptocurrencyaddressesyoucopyandreplacethemwiththoseoftheattacker.Thus,whileavictimmaycopythecorrectrecipientaddress,theonetheypastetoprocessthetransactionisreplacedbythoseoftheattacker.

Toavoidfallingvictimtosuchapps,herearesomeprecautionsyoucantakewhenprocessingtransactions.

Alwaysdoubleandtriplechecktheaddressyouarepastingintotherecipientfield.Blockchaintransactionsareirreversiblesoyoushouldalwaysbecareful.Itisbesttoverifytheentireaddressinsteadofjustportionsofit.Someappsareintelligentenoughtopasteaddressesthatlooksimilartoyourintendedaddress.SIMswappingInaSIMswappingscam,acybercriminalgainsaccesstothephonenumberofauser.TheydothisbyemployingsocialengineeringtechniquestotrickmobilephoneoperatorsintoissuinganewSIMcardtothem.Themostwell-knownSIMswappingscaminvolvedcryptocurrencyentrepreneurMichaelTerpin.HeallegedthatAT&Twasnegligentintheirhandlingofhismobilephonecredentialsresultinginhimlosingtokensvaluedatmorethan20millionUSdollars.

Oncecybercriminalshavegainedaccesstoyourphonenumber,theycanuseittobypassany2FAthatreliesonthat.Fromthere,theycanworktheirwayintoyourcryptocurrencywalletsandexchanges.

AnothermethodcybercriminalscanemployistomonitoryourSMScommunications.Flawsincommunicationsnetworkscanallowcriminalstointerceptyourmessageswhichcanincludethesecond-factorpinmessagedtoyou.

Whatmakesthisattackparticularlyconcerningisthatusersarenotrequiredtoundertakeanyaction,suchasdownloadingafakesoftwareorclickingamaliciouslink.

Topreventfallingpreytosuchscams,herearesomestepstoconsider.

DonotuseyourmobilephonenumberforSMS2FA.Instead,useappslikeGoogleAuthenticatororAuthytosecureyouraccounts.Cybercriminalsareunabletogainaccesstotheseappseveniftheypossessyourphonenumber.Alternatively,youmayusehardware2FAsuchasYubiKeyorGoogle'sTitanSecurityKey.Donotrevealpersonalidentifyinginformationonsocialmedia,suchasyourmobilephonenumber.Cybercriminalscanpickupsuchinformationandusethemtoimpersonateyouelsewhere.Youshouldneverannounceonsocialmediathatyouowncryptocurrenciesasthiswouldmakeyouatarget.Orifyouareinapositionwhereeveryonealreadyknowsyouownthem,thenavoiddisclosingpersonalinformationincludingtheexchangesorwalletsyouuse.Makearrangementswithyourmobilephoneproviderstoprotectyouraccount.Thiscouldmeanattachingapinorpasswordtoyouraccountanddictatingthatonlyuserswithknowledgeofthepincanmakechangestotheaccount.Alternatively,youcanrequiresuchchangestobemadeinpersonanddisallowthemoverthephone.WiFiCybercriminalsareconstantlyseekingentrypointsintomobiledevices,especiallytheonesofcryptocurrencyusers.OnesuchentrypointisthatofWiFiaccess.PublicWiFiisinsecureandusersshouldtakeprecautionsbeforeconnectingtothem.Ifnot,theyriskcybercriminalsgainingaccesstothedataontheirmobiledevices.TheseprecautionshavebeencoveredinthearticleonpublicWiFi.

ClosingthoughtsMobilephoneshavebecomeanessentialpartofourlives.Infact,theyaresointertwinedwithyourdigitalidentitythattheycanbecomeyourgreatestvulnerability.Cybercriminalsareawareofthisandwillcontinuetofindwaystoexploitthis.Securingyourmobiledevicesisnolongeroptional.Ithasbecomeanecessity.Staysafe.

标签：THEINGYOUAPP2getherbiking交易所排名第几HoryouToken元宇宙app下载链接

酷币交易所热门资讯