Many cryptocurrency amator traders and retail investors are beginning to lose interest in the booming industry due to the long and painful decline in the digital currency market. Those who bought bitcoin for $20 000, almost lost confidence that they will ever be able to sell their assets at least break-even, because the bulls still can not break the resistance of sellers and break the most important psychological mark of $10 000.

Nevertheless, the cryptocurrency business continues to evolve and scale. First of all, this applies to specialized trading platforms. While "would-be investors" give up, on the battlefield go players such as Goldman Sachs and the parent company of the new York stock exchange (NYSE) Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).

Goldman Sachs intends to provide its customers with the opportunity to trade bitcoin futures, and ICE will offer banks swap contracts that will allow the client to receive the purchased cryptocurrency the next day.

And while there is some outflow of unskilled investors, "whales" are just beginning to develop hitherto unexplored sector with huge potential. In this regard, we can only assume that the interest of cybercriminals in the industry will only grow.

ForkLog together with experts from the cryptocurrency exchange EXMO tried to determine the basic scheme of breaches of trading platforms and to compile a set of basic safety rules which you must adhere each user of these platforms.

Phishing email-newsletter

The security systems of the cryptocurrency exchange where you trade digital currencies have allegedly recorded suspicious activity from your account. In this regard, an e-mail is sent to the profile containing a link and a recommendation to change the password in order to avoid losing control over your funds.

Despite the simplicity and banality of the scheme, many newcomers really come across and continue to fall into the network of attackers. If you follow the link, you will traditionally be offered several fields to fill in: "old password", "new password" and "repeat new password". So, in an attempt to maintain control over their money, many traders voluntarily pass them into the hands of scammers.

You should follow a few simple rules, not to fall into their open arms, namely:

do not open emails from unverified email addresses;
do not send your personal data to third parties;
pay attention to the sender's address: as a rule, the mailing from major exchanges comes from the official domain.

Phishing sites

It would seem that all cryptocurrency traders have basic skills of reading and writing, however, when it comes to the correct set of the name of the exchange in the address bar or the transition to the site by ready hyperlinks, many do not notice the substitution of letters and the lack of necessary confirmation from the browser about the security of the site.

As soon as such unlucky traders enter their username and password, the attackers instantly receive almost all the necessary data to log into the account. The solution to this problem can serve only caution and increased attention to detail, because in the foreseeable future, phishing copies of popular trading platforms will not disappear.

E-mail hacking

E-mail, which is assigned to an account on the exchange, becomes a target of hackers as often as the account itself. Control over your mail will allow the attacker to send a request for password recovery, after which he will set a temporary password and freely withdraw funds to his wallets. The main "antidote" in this case is the use of two-factor authentication (2FA) mail to prevent unauthorized access by third parties.

Hacking through TeamViewer

However, even two-factor authentication does not guarantee you absolute security if Google Authenticator is installed in the browser on your PC. So, in the presence of TeamViewer, there is a theoretical probability that an attacker will gain access to the TOPR codes in real time and use them to gain access to the exchange profiles.

The point of 2FA is to install the application on another device, such as a mobile phone. This significantly reduces the risk of hacking.

Many users of cryptocurrency exchanges neglect the basic safety rules, because they are convinced that they will not be affected by the fate of MtGox and Coincheck.

However, even the most advanced trading platforms have a number of hidden vulnerabilities that attackers can potentially exploit to penetrate the system.

The mandatory connection of two-factor authentication may seem excessive to someone, but it is always necessary to remember that "black swans" overtake even the most successful. That is why there is a set of key and simple rules, the implementation of which will significantly reduce the risk of loss of funds as a result of hacker attacks or fraud.