Hackers have cleaned out around $103,000 worth of Bitcoin from accounts protected with passwords, instead of the the long cryptographic keys normally required.<\/p>\n
This is according to a report on Ars Technica<\/a><\/strong>, citing a recently published research paper titled \u201cThe Bitcoin Brain Drain: A Short Paper on the Use and Abuse of Bitcoin Brain Wallets<\/a><\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n Called \u201cbrain wallets\u201d, security experts had long warned that the alternative security measure is a bad idea and should not be used.<\/p>\n Brain wallet passwords do not use a cryptographic salt and are passed through a single iteration of the SHA\u2013256 hashing function.<\/p>\n A form of these insecurely hashed passwords are also stored in the Bitcoin blockchain, giving hackers everything they need to compromise the accounts.<\/p>\n The paper tracked attacks over a six year period, and found that hackers had cracked the passwords of 884 brain wallets, taking 1,806 Bitcoins.<\/p>\n \u201cIn total, approximately $100K worth of bitcoin has been loaded into brain wallets, with the ten most valuable wallets accounting for over three-quarters of the total value,\u201d the researchers said.<\/p>\n \u201cMany brain wallets are drained within minutes, and while those storing larger values are emptied faster, nearly all wallets are drained within 24 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n Anonymous hacks and leaks South African government data<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Networks in South Africa that host malware and botnets<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Networks in South Africa that host malware and botnets<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nMore security news<\/h3>\n