As reported by cybersecurity company Carbonblack, this year $1,1 bln equivalent in cryptocurrency was stole in the first part of 2018.

The security company said that criminals take advantage of the dark web to facilitate large-scale crypto theft. Estimates reportedly show that there are 12,000 marketplaces and 34,000 offerings associated with cryptotheft hackers can take advantage of. The dark web can be only accessed with the application of special software and allows users to stay anonymous and mostly untraceable.

The report notes that thefts can be carried out by organized crime cartels or criminal gangs, but often it’s a highly-trained engineer who works alone and is looking for a means of supplementary income. As explained by McElroy, cyber-theft is “pretty easy to do” and anyone could be capable, not only notorious hacker groups.

Normal malware costs an average of $224 and can be priced as low as $1.04. McElroy added that it even sometimes comes with a form of customer support. According to the report, the malware marketplace is worth $6.7 mln.

Source:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/report-1-1-bln-in-crypto-has-been-stolen-this-year