Cryptocurrency has taken over the world in the last few years and the dust of its victorious success is still to settle down. When it comes to the world of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is the most famous one so far. You must have seen a lot of people and businesses investing in it and earning lots of dollars from there.
Are you
someone who has already invested in it or are you planning to do so sooner or
later? If the answer is yes, we have some interesting facts and information
lined up for you. With a lot such people running to invest in bitcoin, have you
stopped for a moment and thought if it is a secure and safe option? While you
would love to believe Bitcoin uses issue tracking tools to fix all of
its security and technical issues, the reality might be a little disappointing.
Is Bitcoin As Safe As You Believe?
With a lot of people
going crazy to invest in the Bitcoin, only a few of them love to think about
security from cybercriminals when it is extremely necessary. It is due to
not considering security issues that a lot of Bitcoin users become victims of
one or other cybersecurity attacks. However, you might think that it is the
responsibility of the administration of the Bitcoin to make it safe and secure
for all of the users around the world. It is your responsibility to be aware of
the security measures Bitcoin is using to ensure your online security so here
are a few of the privacy and security issues you might come across while using
Bitcoin:
- Unsecure Bitcoin Wallets
As Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, it offers online wallet services to its users as well. While a lot of people sign up for this service without inquiring much, we have seen a lot of reports of cybercriminal activities bringing loss to people in the last few years. A lot of people lost their Bitcoins and had to face huge losses due to no or fewer security measures taken by Bitcoin’s higher authorities.
Since
Bitcoin is open for the people to test, a group of researchers of Edinburgh
University tested Bitcoin Wallets and found out a lot of weak spots in hardware
wallets that are easy to be exploited even by new hackers. They further shared
that some of the heavily encrypted hardware wallets were also found to be
equally vulnerable so do you really think the issue tracking tools used
by Bitcoin are up to any good?
- Selfish Mining is Routine Now
While Bitcoin claims to be super-safe and secure for the users, self mining has become one of the routine events for the users and administrators. It has been found that Bitcoin’s proof-of-work consensus mechanism is hiding some more threats no one was aware of. With the growing number of mining pools and their strength, there is a chance they may engage in selfish mining also known as block withholding.
This can use Bitcoin’s computational power to mine a block of code and then use
hiding techniques to keep it hidden from honest miners instead of broadcasting
the new block to the network. While it may seem like less of an issue, these
minor mining attacks can be combined with major Sybil attacks and cause great
harm ranging from invalidating transactions on the network to stealing
Bitcoins.
- What About Cyber Attacks?
Cyber threats directed
at Bitcoin are nowhere to be less sooner. The cyber threats and attacks are
real and are getting a lot in number with every passing day. The majority of
these attacks are directed at exchanges and even though Bitcoin claimed the
issues have been addressed with the help of some famous issue tracking tools, it seems these tools have been failing the users. Gox heist
has been one of the most famous incidents in the past and the threat is still
growing every day as Bitcoin managed to gain back its importance in the
cryptocurrency industry. Moreover, Bitcoin has received a lot of DDoS attacks
threats as well, which has forced them to make their security better than
before.
What Are You Thinking Now?
While higher
management of Bitcoin is trying its best to deal with cyber threats, hackers
are sending a lot of threat notes to them. In such a situation, do you really
feel Bitcoin is a safe platform to invest your money? Whatever the case, we
would suggest you investigate properly before you sign up for the risk!
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