{"id":221135,"date":"2021-04-07T18:24:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T15:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/crypto-at-risk-after-facebook-leak-heres-how-hackers-can-exploit-data\/"},"modified":"2021-04-07T18:24:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T15:24:00","slug":"crypto-at-risk-after-facebook-leak-heres-how-hackers-can-exploit-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/crypto-at-risk-after-facebook-leak-heres-how-hackers-can-exploit-data\/","title":{"rendered":"# Crypto at risk after Facebook leak: Here\u2019s how hackers can exploit data"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a29bbf0d35dd\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a29bbf0d35dd\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/crypto-at-risk-after-facebook-leak-heres-how-hackers-can-exploit-data\/#What_should_be_done\" >What should be done?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/crypto-at-risk-after-facebook-leak-heres-how-hackers-can-exploit-data\/#Does_decentralization_matter\" >Does decentralization matter?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/crypto-at-risk-after-facebook-leak-heres-how-hackers-can-exploit-data\/#Crypto_hacks_in_2020_were_centered_around_the_DeFi_space\" >Crypto hacks in 2020 were centered around the DeFi space<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong># Crypto at risk after <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> leak: Here\u2019s how hackers can exploit data <\/strong>&#8221;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjEtMDQvYTRkMmFmZTItNGEwMi00YzFmLTk5YzItYTg3YjQ1MWJkM2QxLmpwZw==.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content\" data-v-5a136f3a>Facebook is no stranger to data hacks and leaks, with the company having been on the receiving end of many high-profile security breaches in recent years. For example, back in 2018, the social media giant revealed that it had inadvertently <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/09\/28\/technology\/facebook-hack-data-breach.html\">exposed<\/a> the personal information of more than 50 million users due to a small error in its platform coding, thus allowing miscreants to gain access to its users\u2019 accounts.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, in 2020, the Mark Zuckerberg-led firm was embroiled in another major <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2020\/07\/02\/facebook-discovers-it-shared-user-data-with-at-least-5000-app-developers-after-a-cutoff-data\/?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAG5WNplCPtHOQXvvKVXQbxas56Xb1qcPD78KTHJ_DDzKLsNnZuj5JUZ6x2TsCqovNh1mhQS5xuURPKFiPUCRV-Fi5Xzql4IqbJJDLyGNmtRySrQX3CwWz4SUM2mAiDh-bPJVitH6F2Jpbv9MhM-VynsW2K1d87xHKJSx6E6Bg0wB\">controversy<\/a> when it came to light that thousands of developers had been able to access data from inactive platform users, again drawing the ire of many folks across the globe.<\/p>\n<p>Now in 2021, the tech juggernaut has once again been hit with a fresh wave of data leaks, however, this time around, the number of users whose records were exposed was not 50 million but a staggering 500 million. On April 3, Alon Gal, chief technical officer of security firm Hudson Rock, revealed that sensitive personal information for over half a billion Facebook users was shared on a well-trafficked hacking forum.<\/p>\n<p>To be more specific, the records include phone numbers, full names, locations, birthdates, bios, and, in some cases, email addresses of over 553 million located users across a total of 100 countries. Not only that, of the above-stated figure, 32 million users are <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>arently from the United States, while 11 million are from the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, this data which is now doing the rounds online has potentially put at risk the savings of millions of digital currency traders and hodlers who now may be vulnerable to SIM swapping and other identity-based attacks, which have happened in recent years.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_should_be_done\"><\/span>What should be done?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>How exactly does this most recent breach place at risk the crypto assets of individuals? Dave Jevans, CEO of blockchain security firm CipherTrace, told Cointelegraph that people who have had their phone numbers leaked need to be extra cautious since a lot of fraud involving digital assets hinges on such info, adding:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWe\u2019ve seen an increase in SIM swaps, phishing attacks and other types of fraud involving cryptocurrencies that rely on acquiring the phone numbers of victims to execute. Leaked info about the identity of high-profile crypto users gave bad actors the ability to target them.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He went on to add that individuals who believe their crypto may be at some sort of risk need to reconsider their existing privacy strategies \u2014 basically, thinking twice before storing all their holdings in a centralized exchange that may leverage user phone numbers for two-factor authentication.<\/p>\n<p>Jevans further opined that managing one\u2019s own keys could be a better way to protect our valuables from being phished via the use of stolen phone numbers. However, he conceded that even that may not be enough. \u201cPhishing attackers can still use other means of acquiring account and address information, but it\u2019s much harder,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Providing a take on the matter, Ben Diggles, co-founder and chief revenue officer for Constellation \u2014 a scalable enterprise-grade blockchain creating a standard for securing data in transit \u2014 told Cointelegraph that Facebook\u2019s latest security lapse is not surprising, especially since most users of the social media platform tend to adhere to a different mindset \u2014 i.e., they like their world to be managed and organized for them.<\/p>\n<p>He added that for most users, if they forget their passwords, they can just have the system reset it for them. Not only that, in Diggles\u2019 view, most folks using Facebook aren\u2019t even totally aware of how big their digital footprint actually is \u2014 a facet that Facebook doesn\u2019t make too obvious either \u2014 adding:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThose that are crypto holders that were on the list have little to worry about unless they were storing descriptive details of their holdings and access on their Facebook account. However, these hackers have gotten really sophisticated, so I have no idea what tricks they may have [up] their sleeves with regards to scraping info specific to crypto wallets and exchanges.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That said, as a precautionary measure, he believes that it would be best if most users change their passwords across all of their social media accounts as well as other platforms that share their data with Facebook.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_decentralization_matter\"><\/span>Does decentralization matter?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>As more data leaks continue to happen, an increasing amount of people around the world are beginning to realize the value proposition that decentralized systems put forth from a security standpoint, especially since they do not feature a single point of failure. <\/p>\n<p>On the subject, Eli Arkush, a cloud solutions engineer at cybersecurity firm GlobalDots, opined that having the backend system of a platform distributed using blockchain <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> might make it a bit harder on the hackers to get a hold of user info; however, once credentials fall into the wrong hands, password reuse can become an issue. <\/p>\n<p>Similarly, Diggles believes that few people are educated enough to understand why decentralization actually counts, since, in theory, everything already seems fairly decentralized in their experience, at least from a digital standpoint. <\/p>\n<p>He added that most people don\u2019t know that the internet plays by its own rules and thus when he tells people about how technologies such as Brave and the Basic Attention Token work, it\u2019s mind-blowing to them: \u201cMost people aren\u2019t aware of their involvement in the grander data world, and I can see why humans have been conditioned to think centralization is safer.\u201d He added: \u201cIf users are made aware that value is being siphoned off of them every day, I think they would change behaviors quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, Stephen Wilson, a member of the Australian government\u2019s National Blockchain Roadmap Cybersecurity Working Group and CEO of security services provider Lockstep Group, is of the opinion that contrary to what some may believe, it\u2019s never a good idea to save personal information on any sort of blockchain ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>He pointed out that the type of personal information breached by Facebook should never be stored in a blockchain, and even if one does, such data can never totally be protected by blockchain with any sort of long-term effectiveness. He stated further that \u201cthere are many different facets of decentralization and distributed systems,\u201d adding:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cBlockchain and DLTs usually only decentralize some aspects of data management. They don\u2019t usually decentralize data storage in any relevant sense because they tend to duplicate ledger entries across multiple systems. The storage is distributed, but identical copies of information are available in multiple locations and can be vulnerable to attackers or thieves.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Crypto_hacks_in_2020_were_centered_around_the_DeFi_space\"><\/span>Crypto hacks in 2020 were centered around the DeFi space<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Late last year, crypto hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger was on the receiving end of a data hack, as a result of which the private information of more than 270,000 users was leaked online. Following the incident, users started reporting extortion threats from bad actors resulting in many users even considered initiating legal action against the firm.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, a total of 28 attacks were <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/article\/billions-were-stolen-in-blockchain-hacks-in-2020\/#:~:text=Data%20collected%20by%20Slowmist%20Hacked,27%20attacks%20on%20blockchain%20wallets\">witnessed<\/a> in relation to various prominent cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms in 2020, with the total sum of money being compromised as a result of these ploys amounting to around $300 million.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Related:\u00a0Crypto wallets in 2021: From hot to cold, here are the options<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ciphertrace.com\/half-of-2020-crypto-hacks-are-from-defi-protocols-and-exchanges\/\">report<\/a> released by CipherTrace, more than 50% of all nefarious activities in relation to the crypto market last year were linked to various decentralized finance protocols after the immense amount of growth over the past year.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, most hacking schemes have, by and large, focused on stealing funds from cryptocurrency exchanges, for <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/google-amp\/article\/2019-saw-more-cryptocurrency-hacks-than-any-other-year\/\">example<\/a>, in 2014 and 2018, the amount of money compromised as a result of exchanges being hacked lay at $483 million and $875 million, respectively. <\/p>\n<p>However, an increasing number of miscreants are now turning their attention to stealing user data because it provides them with unique avenues to acquire funds with relative ease. Thus, it is of utmost importance that crypto owners learn how to protect their assets, using advanced tools not to fall prey to such breach attempts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/crypto-at-risk-after-facebook-leak-here-s-how-hackers-can-exploit-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;# Crypto at risk after Facebook leak: Here\u2019s how hackers can exploit data &#8221; Facebook is no stranger to data hacks and leaks, with the company having been on the receiving end of many high-profile security breaches in recent years. For example, back in 2018, the social media giant revealed that it had inadvertently exposed&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":221136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/1200_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjEtMDQvYTRkMmFmZTItNGEwMi00YzFmLTk5YzItYTg3YjQ1MWJkM2QxLmpwZw==.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[15047,74862,74894,72366,4974,72287,4965],"class_list":["post-221135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-privacy","tag-bitcoin","tag-blockchain","tag-data","tag-facebook","tag-security","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}