Digital currencies and the software developed to track them have become attractive targets for cybercriminals while creating a lucrative new market for computer-security firms.
In less than a decade hackers have stolen $1.2 billion worth of Bitcoin and rival currency Ether, according to Lex Sokolin, global director of fintech strategy at Autonomous Research LLP. Given the currencies’ explosive surge at the end of 2017, the cost in today's money is much higher.
"It looks like crypto hacking is a $200 million annual revenue industry," Sokolin said. Hackers have compromised more than 14 percent of the Bitcoin and Ether supply, he said.
All told, hacks involving cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have cost companies and governments $11.3 billion through lost potential tax revenue from coin sales and illegitimate transactions, according to Susan Eustis, chief executive officer of WinterGreen Research. The blockchain ecosystem -- the decentralized "distributed ledgers" that track crypto transactions -- is also vulnerable. ...
... For the remainder of the report:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-...ave-walked-o...
