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Monero is attracting a lot of cybercriminals nowadays only because the transactions, the amount all are hidden and cannot be traced. So there is an increasing case of cybercrime reporting where criminals are using Monero for illicit activities.
Monero (XMR) is becoming one of the favourite cryptocurrencies among cybercriminals. It is taking away a part of Bitcoin’s share. As per the reports, Rick Holland, Chief Information Security Officer at Digital Shadows, a Cyberthreat Intelligence company, said that there is an increasing case of cybercrime reporting where cybercriminals are using Monero for their illicit activities.
Explaining the advantages of Monero over Bitcoin in cybercrime, Ultimaco Fred Theil, former Chairman of Europe’s top cryptography company, said that transactions can be traced on the bitcoin blockchain and one can find out what wallet address transacted. One can also find out how many bitcoins are going out and how many of them have come. But with Monero Blockchain, it is different. Under the Monero blockchain, one cannot find out the wallet address, the amount of the transactions, and the counterparty hidden. All of these are pretty good features that cybercriminals look for.
Experts caution about cybercrime
Where the news is doing the rounds that Monero is becoming the favourite of bad actors, experts on the other hand believe that Bitcoin still dominates the picture. The ransomware, computer viruses asking for a crypto ransom, in exchange for restoring the user’s access to his data, etc. are all such crimes that the criminals take advantage of for making money. These actions can also be done on Monero and it is quickly gaining grounds.
REvil- a ransomware group is giving discounts or request payments in Monero in the past couple of months, informed authorities from Holland. They further informed that there is a resurgence from the cybercriminal perspective in Monero. It is because he has more privacy than some other coins.
While these activities suggest that cybercriminals are adopting Monero for ransomware, regulated actors tend to refrain from dabbling it. According to the portfolio manager and Quantum Economics founder, Monero is certainly not hyped from the recent wave of institutional investments. But many regulated cryptocurrency exchanges decided not to list the coin over the regulatory concerns.
As a result, the criminals are requesting it as payment and find it harder to get paid. While throwing light on the criminal activities, Theil further informed that for corporations who want to acquire a bunch of Monero to pay, it will be difficult. The currency may be shut in the U.S. and other regulators as well.
Advice to corporations
Peter Marta is a former Central Intelligence Agency Case Officer. He currently helps companies with cybersecurity and has informed that cybersecurity insurance firms often refuse to pay the ransom amount if it is asked to be paid in Monero. It is because the insurer cannot know whether the cybercriminals were on a sanction list if Monero is used.
Marta further cautions the companies that the insurer would ask for the type of due diligence the victim company conducted, before making the payment. It will help to try to reduce the chance that the payment goes to an entity on the sanctions list.
Monero is ranked 27 on CoinMarketCap. It was traded at $268.79 with a 10.22% surge in prices in the past 24 hours. The trading volume was more than $224 million and the current market cap is nearly $5 billion.
Monero was conceptualised in 2014 by a consortium of developers. Many of them are anonymous. The currency claims that privacy and anonymity are the most important aspects of digital currency. Monero was tagged as the privacy-centric cryptocurrency project that aims to confuse the links of the transactions across source, quantity and destination.
It operates on its own blockchain where no transaction details are shown along with the identity of the sender and recipient as well as the transaction amount. This will hence help the cybercriminals in reaching levels of freedom via different mechanisms that track crypto transactions. In 2021, Monero jumped to more than 250% in four months only.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
