Cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin, remain the currency of choice for much of cybercrime, Europol’s Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) 2016 report says, adding that whether it is used as payment for criminal services or for receiving payments from extortion victims. Even so, key members of the Bitcoin community, such as exchangers, are increasingly finding themselves the victim of cyber-criminals. The report, which the Director of Europol , Rob Wainwright, says provides a predominantly law enforcement focused assessment of the key developments, changes and emerging threats in the field of cybercrime over the last year, is based on valuable contributions by EU Member States and the expert input of Europol staff, which has been further enhanced and combined with input from our partners in private industry, the financial sector and academia. It states: For criminal to criminal (C2C) payments, payment systems which ensure that both parties can maintain a high level of anonymity are preferred, with Bitcoin being the payment system of choice for many C2C transactions. Bitcoin has also become the standard solution for extortion payments, whether as a consequence of ransomware or DDoS attacks. It also added that a variety of new and innovative modi operandi have been discovered which combine existing approaches, exploiting new technology or identifying new targets. This, it says, is evident in the proliferation and evolution of malware attacks directly against ATMs, indications of compromised payments involving contactless (NFC) cards and the recent attacks against the SWIFT system are examples of this development. Citing the growing misuse of legitimate anonymity and encryption services and tools for illegal purposes as posing a serious impediment to detection, investigation and prosecution, thereby creating a high level of threat cutting across all crime areas, the report says this creates a dichotomy of value, particularly for law enforcement since […]
