Related papers: Ransomware Payments in the Bitcoin Ecosystem
Ransomware is malicious software that is a prominent global cybersecurity threat. Typically, ransomware encrypts data on a system, rendering the victim unable to decrypt it without the attacker's private key. Subsequently, victims often pay…
We study the real economic activity in the Bitcoin blockchain that involves transactions from/to retail users rather than between organizations such as marketplaces, exchanges, or other services. We first introduce a heuristic method to…
Crypto-ransomware remains a significant threat to governments and companies alike, with high-profile cyber security incidents regularly making headlines. Many different detection systems have been proposed as solutions to the ever-changing…
Detecting encryption-driven cyber threats remains a large challenge due to the evolving techniques employed to evade traditional detection mechanisms. An entropy-based computational framework was introduced to analyze multi-domain system…
The criminal underground is populated with forum marketplaces where, allegedly, cybercriminals share and trade knowledge, skills, and cybercrime products. However, it is still unclear whether all marketplaces matter the same in the overall…
Ransomware is an emerging threat which imposed a \$ 5 billion loss in 2017 and is predicted to hit \$ 11.5 billion in 2019. While initially targeting PC (client) platforms, ransomware recently made the leap to server-side databases -…
Routing attacks remain practically effective in the Internet today as existing countermeasures either fail to provide protection guarantees or are not easily deployable. Blockchain systems are particularly vulnerable to such attacks as they…
Quantum computation represents a threat to many cryptographic protocols in operation today. It has been estimated that by 2035, there will exist a quantum computer capable of breaking the vital cryptographic scheme RSA2048. Blockchain…
The problem of anomaly detection has been studied for a long time, and many Network Analysis techniques have been proposed as solutions. Although some results appear to be quite promising, no method is clearly to be superior to the rest. In…
As Bitcoin's popularity has grown over the decade since its creation, it has become an increasingly attractive target for adversaries of all kinds. One of the most powerful potential adversaries is the country of China, which has expressed…
Blockchain networks are critical for safeguarding digital transactions and assets, but they are increasingly targeted by ransomware attacks exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities. Traditional detection techniques struggle due to the complexity…
NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) have seen significant growth since they first captured public attention in 2021. However, the NFT market is plagued by fake transactions and economic bubbles, e.g., NFT wash trading. Wash trading typically refers…
Anti-money laundering (AML) regulations play a critical role in safeguarding financial systems, but bear high costs for institutions and drive financial exclusion for those on the socioeconomic and international margins. The advent of…
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) serve as a representative form of digital asset ownership and have attracted numerous investors, creators, and tech enthusiasts in recent years. However, related fraud activities, especially phishing scams, have…
Off-chain transaction networks can mitigate the scalability issues of today's trustless electronic cash systems such as Bitcoin. However, these peer-to-peer networks also introduce a new attack surface which is not well-understood today.…
Cross-chain bridges are a type of middleware for blockchain interoperability that supports the transfer of assets and data across blockchains. However, several of these bridges have vulnerabilities that have caused 3.2 billion dollars in…
The number of blockchain users has tremendously grown in recent years. As an unintended consequence, e-crime transactions on blockchains has been on the rise. Consequently, public blockchains have become a hotbed of research for developing…
We present BitConduite, a visual analytics tool for explorative analysis of financial activity within the Bitcoin network. Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency worldwide and a phenomenon that challenges the underpinnings of traditional…
A key challenge for Bitcoin cryptocurrency holders, such as startups using ICOs to raise funding, is managing their FX risk. Specifically, a misinformed decision to convert Bitcoin to fiat currency could, by itself, cost USD millions. In…
We show how third-party web trackers can deanonymize users of cryptocurrencies. We present two distinct but complementary attacks. On most shopping websites, third party trackers receive information about user purchases for purposes of…