"Will the Crypto Crash Impact Cybersecurity in 2023? Maybe."

The question has emerged as to how the decrease in cryptocurrency valuations will impact the cybercrime economy. Even before the most current cryptocurrency boom, cybercriminals have abused cryptocurrency to bolster their operations. The cryptocurrency market has served as a ransomware medium as it is a hub of consumer-targeted scams designed to steal their wallets and bank accounts. Historically, it has provided a great deal of anonymity for money laundering on the back-end of various cybercriminal operations. According to Helen Short, a cyber threat intelligence analyst at Accenture, regardless of the value of cryptocurrencies, cybercriminals have become more sophisticated in their use of cryptocurrencies to monetize their attacks. She cites ransomware groups' use of yield farming within Decentralized Finance (DeFi) as an example. Her research has revealed that threat actors are increasingly turning to 'stablecoins,' which are typically connected to fiat currencies or gold. She says the decline in cryptocurrency values has enhanced hackers' risk appetite and prompted them to commit more investment fraud and cryptocurrency scams. Threat actors are also exploiting people's need to recuperate losses. Brittany Allen, a trust and safety architect and fraud researcher at Sift, explains that while some consumers who have lost the value of their wallets may be desperate, others have simply lost interest and are no longer monitoring their accounts as closely, which is causing another trend. Consumers are paying less attention to their cryptocurrency wallets than they were at the beginning of this year and in 2021, according to Allen, who emphasizes that cybercriminals have taken note. This has led to a 79 percent increase in cryptocurrency account hijackings. She reveals that this year her team identified a new type of cryptocurrency cash-out scam on Telegram and dark web forums, where account takeover scammers collaborated to target the cryptocurrency market during its crash. This article continues to discuss experts' insights on whether the cryptocurrency market crash will significantly impact cybercriminal tactics and business models.

Dark Reading reports "Will the Crypto Crash Impact Cybersecurity in 2023? Maybe."