Topic: Hackers Stole $50 Million in Cryptocurrency Using 'Poison' Google Ads (Read 273 times)

For years, hackers have robbed Bitcoin investors, emptying their cryptocurrency wallets without fear of being caught thanks to the relative anonymity of the blockchain. Now, Cisco (csco, +5.04%) has exposed the thieves behind a string of particularly flagrant attacks.

A Ukrainian hacker group dubbed Coinhoarder has stolen more than $50 million in cryptocurrency from users of Blockchain.info, one of the most popular providers of digital currency wallets, according to a report published Wednesday by Cisco’s Talos cybersecurity team.

The report explains how thieves preyed upon their victims using a “very simple” yet treacherous technique: Buying Google ads on popular search keywords related to cryptocurrency “to poison user search results” and snatch the contents of crypto wallets. This meant people Googling terms like “blockchain” or “bitcoin wallet,” saw links to malicious websites masquerading as legitimate domains for Blockchain.info wallets.

For example, the poison ads included “spoofed” links with small types like “blokchien.info/wallet” and “block-clain.info,” which sent visitors to a landing page that mirrored actual websites of the company Blockchain, which runs both the domains Blockchain.info and blockchain.com. (The legitimate sites appeared lower in results than the “poisoned” links, according to Cisco’s report.)

Fooled into believing they had come to the right place, victims then entered private information that allowed the hackers to gain access to their actual wallets and take their digital money. “The attackers needed only to continue purchasing Google AdWords to ensure a steady stream of victims,” the Talos team led by Jeremiah O’Connor and Dave Maynor said in their report.

Blockchain, for its part, is working with Google “on a daily basis” to take down phishing ads, and secured the removal of almost 10,000 such malicious websites last year, along with another 3,000 it flagged in January alone, according to Blockchain CEO and co-founder Peter Smith.

Yes. Google makes a small profit every time someone clicks an ad.

For years, hackers have robbed Bitcoin investors, emptying their cryptocurrency wallets without fear of being caught thanks to the relative anonymity of the blockchain. Now, Cisco (csco, +5.04%) has exposed the thieves behind a string of particularly flagrant attacks.

A Ukrainian hacker group dubbed Coinhoarder has stolen more than $50 million in cryptocurrency from users of Blockchain.info, one of the most popular providers of digital currency wallets, according to a report published Wednesday by Cisco’s Talos cybersecurity team.

The report explains how thieves preyed upon their victims using a “very simple” yet treacherous technique: Buying Google ads on popular search keywords related to cryptocurrency “to poison user search results” and snatch the contents of crypto wallets. This meant people Googling terms like “blockchain” or “bitcoin wallet,” saw links to malicious websites masquerading as legitimate domains for Blockchain.info wallets.

For example, the poison ads included “spoofed” links with small types like “blokchien.info/wallet” and “block-clain.info,” which sent visitors to a landing page that mirrored actual websites of the company Blockchain, which runs both the domains Blockchain.info and blockchain.com. (The legitimate sites appeared lower in results than the “poisoned” links, according to Cisco’s report.)

Fooled into believing they had come to the right place, victims then entered private information that allowed the hackers to gain access to their actual wallets and take their digital money. “The attackers needed only to continue purchasing Google AdWords to ensure a steady stream of victims,” the Talos team led by Jeremiah O’Connor and Dave Maynor said in their report.

Blockchain, for its part, is working with Google “on a daily basis” to take down phishing ads, and secured the removal of almost 10,000 such malicious websites last year, along with another 3,000 it flagged in January alone, according to Blockchain CEO and co-founder Peter Smith.