CO4515 Trends in Cybercrime: Crypto Malware and Vulnerabilities

This report investigates the connection between cryptocurrency and cybercrime, focusing on the types of malware used by cybercriminals to target cryptocurrencies. It identifies specific malware such as Crypto lockers, Crypto jacking, and WannaCry, and examines the vulnerabilities they exploit. The report also discusses mitigation tools and processes, including authentication, firewall technology, and the importance of strong passwords and regular software updates. It addresses the drawbacks of these mitigation strategies and proposes solutions to overcome them, such as using high-level passwords and employing antivirus and cryptography technologies. The conclusion emphasizes the significance of understanding cryptocurrency-related cybercrime and the importance of cybersecurity skills. Desklib provides access to similar reports and study tools for students.

CRYPTO CURRENCY AND
CYBER-CRIME

STAGE 1: RESEARCH QUESTION
• The research question for this paper is given by:
• What malware, e.g., Crypto lockers have been used by
cybercriminals to obtain crypto currencies, which
vulnerabilities did they exploit and what mitigation can
be adopted against them?

STAGE 2 – LITERATURE SEARCH &
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Higbee, A., (2018) the role of crypto-currency in
cybercrime. Computer Fraud & Security, 2018(7),
pp.13-15.
• This article was written by Higbee in year 2018.
• Purpose of this paper is to evaluate importance of crypto
currency in cyber crime.

STAGE 2 – LITERATURE SEARCH &
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Brown, S.D., (2016) Crypto currency and
criminality: The Bit coin opportunity. The Police
Journal, 89(4), pp.327-339.
• This paper was produced by Brown which is based on
crypto-currency and cyber-criminal.
• The aim of this journal is to analysis the concept of
crypto currency and cyber-crimes.

STAGE 2 – LITERATURE SEARCH &
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Irwin, A.S. and Milad, G., (2016) the use of crypto-
currencies in funding violent jihad. Journal of
Money Laundering Control, 19(4), pp.407-425.
• The goal of this article is to gather knowledge in area of
cyber-crimes and understand fundamental of crypto-
currencies.

STAGE 3: RESEARCH PAPER
• A crypto currency is defined as a digital asset
which is designed to work as a process to
exchange money one form to another (Ahn, et al.,
2016).
• The aim of this report is to analysis the different
types of malwares used by cybercriminal to hack
the crypto-currency and prevention method to
improve the security of consumer personal data
(Broadhead, 2018).

LITERATURE REVIEW
• Term cybercrime is defined as an attack in which
hackers use more advanced computer networks
to develop unauthentic servers and transfer to
the networks of consumers to block their personal
data or information (Brown, 2016).
• According to the Broadhead, (2018) term cyber-
crime currently poses an important threat in the
field of information technology because many
consumers use third party application and
unauthentic servers by which they can lose their
personal information.

TYPES OF MALWARE USED BY HACKERS
• There are various types of malware used by
hackers which are described below:
• Crypto locker
• Crypto jacking
• Wanna Cry
• Bot attack

MITIGATION TOOLS AND PROCESSES
• Use a full service internet security suite
• Adopt security tools and policies
• Use strong passwords
• Update software on regular basis
• Manage social medial settings
• Adopt high level computer networks
• Use inly authentic servers
• Adopt firewall and encryption (Irwin, and Milad,
2016).

MITIGATION TOOLS
• Authentication:
• Use of authentic servers is one of the common technique
to control and manage the malware and data breach
issues.
• it provide a way to improve the security and privacy of
the computers and networks by proving authentication.
• Firewall technology:
• Firewall is an advanced computer technology which is a
combination of hardware and software that has ability to
decrease the rate of security risks and malware attacks.

DRAWBACKS OF THAT MITIGATION
• Security in the authentication is completely
depended on the confidentiality and the strength
of the password.
• It does not provide any strong identity check and
uses only password based system.
• Firewall does not protect devices from the insider
attacks due to which users can lose their personal
information and mainly it occurs in the crypto
currencies.

OVERCOME THAT DRAWBACKS
• The issue of passwords in the authentication can
be handled and decreased by using the high level
passwords that involve characters, numeric and
special character.
• To avoid the insider attacks in the firewall
individuals can use the antivirus and
cryptography technologies that have potential to
identify the malware and fraud signals from the
computer system.