Without ransomware, the bitcoin goes down
Summary: Cryptocurrency does not benefit from sharpen protection for ransomware. On the contrary, without the encryption software, the Bitcoin is written down, according to a Finnish security expert.
According to Jarno Niemelä, the value of the bitcoin will culminate from that ransomware becoming less popular. That reported the F-Secure security expert by means of a tweet. Last Tuesday he attended the annual Cyber Security Conference in Affligem, explaining that to us what he meant.
What is a bitcoin?
Most likely you have heard a lot about the bitcoin, but you do not own such electronic coins yourself. That's not surprising, because cryptocurrency is used mainly in the illegal circuit. In fact, a bitcoin is a payment method with its own variable value, with no third party entering a bank. Even though you can not physically capture the bitcoin, they are scarce and consequently valuable.
Bitcoins add you to a digital portfolio, a so-called bitcoin wallet. The currency uses peer-to-peer technology, which makes these electronic cents a high level of anonymity to the payer. That is why the currency is so popular among cybermaffiosi.
Survival of the fittest
According to Niemelä, it will not take long before the bitcoin blows its last breath of life. "Cryptocurrencies can be imagined as two-legged digital dolls: drug trafficking and ransomware. Take one of those limbs away, and the digital currency market will collapse, "the Finnish researcher told security company F-Secure. "The bitcoin's money traffic consists almost exclusively of illegal goods."
"Forms of malware come and go," Niemelä continues. "Ransomware is currently particularly popular among cybercriminals because it is currently the most profitable for them. As software cuts more security holes, cybercriminals will have to find new methods to break into a computer. The bitcoin is thus doomed to die early. Do not misunderstand me, I like cryptocurrency as a purely theoretical concept, but in practice it appears that digital money is rarely used for illegal purposes. "