A Retrospective Analysis of User Exposure to (Illicit) Cryptocurrency Mining on the Web

In late 2017, a sudden proliferation of malicious JavaScript was reported on the Web: browser-based mining exploited the CPU time of website visitors to mine the cryptocurrency Monero. Several studies measured the deployment of such code and developed defenses. However, previous work did not establish how many users were really exposed to the identified mining sites and whether there was a real risk given common user browsing behavior. In this paper, we present a retroactive analysis to close this research gap. We pool large-scale, longitudinal data from several vantage points, gathered during the prime time of illicit cryptomining, to measure the impact on web users. We leverage data from passive traffic monitoring of university networks and a large European ISP, with suspected mining sites identified in previous active scans. We corroborate our results with data from a browser extension with a large user base that tracks site visits. We also monitor open HTTP proxies and the Tor network for malicious injection of code. We find that the risk for most Web users was always very low, much lower than what deployment scans suggested. Any exposure period was also very brief. However, we also identify a previously unknown and exploited attack vector on mobile devices

GREY FLOWLESS, OR PREDICTING CAPITAL OUTFLOWS IN CRYPTOCURRENCY

Globalization and irrational capital distribution have fuelled global financial crises. Illicit transactions on a global scale worsen financial challenges, limiting government spending on public services. Amid these challenges, blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies have emerged as potential solutions. Due to anonymity public identification through “keys”, some scholars argue that cryptocurrencies create an opportunity for misuse as an easy tool for money laundering, tax evasion and illegal activities. This study investigates the relationship between illicit finance flows and cryptocurrency markets, utilizing grey systems theory and grey relational analysis. Drawing samples from 41 states with the highest cryptocurrency trade volumes, the research reveals nuanced dynamics within the cryptocurrency market, shedding light on the connections between cryptocurrencies, shadow activities, and capital outflows. The findings contribute valuable insights to the ongoing discourse on the impact of cryptocurrencies on global financial stability. The intricate exploration of these interconnections underscores the need for a comprehensive understanding of the role cryptocurrencies play in shaping the contemporary financial landscape

Cryptocurrency and Financial Risks

Since its inception, the cryptocurrency\u27s exceptional growth has put financial institutions at high risk of exposure to money laundering. In financial institutions, specifically banks, Anti-Money Laundering and Bank Secrecy Act (AML/BSA) risk specialists, bank managers, and compliance officers get challenged in identifying cryptocurrency-related transactions and customers who conceal illegal funds. Interviews conducted with the AML/BSA risk specialists, bank managers, and compliance officers were analyzed to understand how banks combat the cryptocurrency-related money laundering in the USA banking system. Interview with the Director of Financial Investigations & Education at CipherTrace as an expert in blockchain forensics was evaluated to recognize bank regulation and compliance. The case studies were assessed to understand the banks\u27 program and regulation deficiencies and their inability to identify suspicious accounts. Interviews and case studies findings suggest that cryptocurrency-related money laundering is a risk for banks who lack proper tools, programs, and adequate well-trained and well-educated staff in mitigating cryptocurrency-related risks. Support provided by FinCEN regulation and guidance and external vendors is seen as critically valuable in assisting banks to combat cryptocurrency-related money laundering financial crimes

A Deep-dive into Cryptojacking Malware: From an Empirical Analysis to a Detection Method for Computationally Weak Devices

Cryptojacking is an act of using a victim\u27s computation power without his/her consent. Unauthorized mining costs extra electricity consumption and decreases the victim host\u27s computational efficiency dramatically. In this thesis, we perform an extensive research on cryptojacking malware from every aspects. First, we present a systematic overview of cryptojacking malware based on the information obtained from the combination of academic research papers, two large cryptojacking datasets of samples, and numerous major attack instances. Second, we created a dataset of 6269 websites containing cryptomining scripts in their source codes to characterize the in-browser cryptomining ecosystem by differentiating permissioned and permissionless cryptomining samples. Third, we introduce an accurate and efficient IoT cryptojacking detection mechanism based on network traffic features that achieves an accuracy of 99%. Finally, we believe this thesis will greatly expand the scope of research and facilitate other novel solutions in the cryptojacking domain

Bitcoin and the Japanese Retail Investor

The objective of this research is to examine the Bitcoin rally of 2017 as it occurred in Japan and establish a greater context for why it was the Japanese retail investors that propelled the nation to being the largest trader of the cryptocurrency at the end of the year. This dissertation begins with the examination of the technical and economical properties of Bitcoin by classifying it as fulfilling two roles: that of a means of payment and that of an investment commodity. Following that is a description of Bitcoin’s roots and the history of its non-speculative usage. These chapters serve as a base for examining the cryptocurrency’s role in Japan. The third chapter examines the Japanese retail investor and the Japanese retail investment landscape with a focus on the question of the low rates of risk-asset participation in face of a favorable investment environment. Historical context is drawn upon to argue that the present situation, wherein most financial assets are kept as cash, is rather the result of the historical path dependence than the present-day conditions in which Japanese retail investors operate. The final chapter addresses the question of high-risk activities in the form of gambling and margin trading by a group of predominantly middle-aged men and connects this propensity to engage in zero-sum games with Bitcoin’s success in Japan. The author argues that the solitary practice of high-risk financial activities enabled by trusted institutions is separate from the general savings tradition that suffered shocks following the low interest-rate regime and that it was the high-risk gambles that became the primary cause for the popularity of Bitcoin. The dissertation concludes with the argument that the success of Bitcoin in 2017 had been in no small part achieved precisely by inverting the hard-line libertarian values of its creators and making it a centrally-held commodity offered by a banking-like institution with a strong public presence

FinBook: literary content as digital commodity

This short essay explains the significance of the FinBook intervention, and invites the reader to participate. We have associated each chapter within this book with a financial robot (FinBot), and created a market whereby book content will be traded with financial securities. As human labour increasingly consists of unstable and uncertain work practices and as algorithms replace people on the virtual trading floors of the worlds markets, we see members of society taking advantage of FinBots to invest and make extra funds. Bots of all kinds are making financial decisions for us, searching online on our behalf to help us invest, to consume products and services. Our contribution to this compilation is to turn the collection of chapters in this book into a dynamic investment portfolio, and thereby play out what might happen to the process of buying and consuming literature in the not-so-distant future. By attaching identities (through QR codes) to each chapter, we create a market in which the chapter can ‘perform’. Our FinBots will trade based on features extracted from the authors’ words in this book: the political, ethical and cultural values embedded in the work, and the extent to which the FinBots share authors’ concerns; and the performance of chapters amongst those human and non-human actors that make up the market, and readership. In short, the FinBook model turns our work and the work of our co-authors into an investment portfolio, mediated by the market and the attention of readers. By creating a digital economy specifically around the content of online texts, our chapter and the FinBook platform aims to challenge the reader to consider how their personal values align them with individual articles, and how these become contested as they perform different value judgements about the financial performance of each chapter and the book as a whole. At the same time, by introducing ‘autonomous’ trading bots, we also explore the different ‘network’ affordances that differ between paper based books that’s scarcity is developed through analogue form, and digital forms of books whose uniqueness is reached through encryption. We thereby speak to wider questions about the conditions of an aggressive market in which algorithms subject cultural and intellectual items – books – to economic parameters, and the increasing ubiquity of data bots as actors in our social, political, economic and cultural lives. We understand that our marketization of literature may be an uncomfortable juxtaposition against the conventionally-imagined way a book is created, enjoyed and shared: it is intended to be

Travels along the hype cycle: a set of blockchain applications and the economic processes they impact

Some commentators refer to blockchain as a potential General Purpose Technology. Yet despite a plethora of cryptoassets and projects, it has struggled to gain traction beyond payments and price discovery. This thesis explores how the technology is being applied to better understand the potential and risks of deploying blockchain. It examines four different use cases with econometric and case study methods: (1) Bitcoin mining as the token incentivized processing of records, (2) Initial Coin Offering tokens as a form of venture financing, (3) Uniswap the decentralized exchange and (4) Kompany improving the data integrity of compliance records via notarization to a public blockchain. It finds that blockchain enables capabilities that did not exist before, but that these capabilities are bounded by trade offs and developer priorities. Ultimately this research expands the literature on blockchain applications and argues that blockchain does not build better systems, but different systems that can achieve different objectives. It provides evidence that firms and society are gradually traversing the hype cycle, deploying blockchain, solving real world economic problems and creating value

Big Data Security (Volume 3)

After a short description of the key concepts of big data the book explores on the secrecy and security threats posed especially by cloud based data storage. It delivers conceptual frameworks and models along with case studies of recent technology

Strategies for Cryptocurrency Adoption in Contemporary Businesses

Millions of Bitcoin transactions occur daily, worth nearly $2 billion annually. With the proliferation of cryptocurrency markets, the reluctance to adopt the currency as an alternate payment method could cause businesses to forgo growth opportunities within this expanding market. Grounded in the diffusion of innovation theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies business leaders use to respond to the alternative payment concerns perpetuated by cryptocurrency markets. The participants comprised 6 business leaders who effectively employed cryptocurrency adoption strategies. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, corporate documents, and other company social media resources. Thematic analysis of the data resulted in 4 common themes: commitment to innovation as a relative advantage, cryptocurrency compatibility within the organization, overcoming the complexity of cryptocurrency adoption, and trialability and observability of innovative technology. Key recommendations include creating business models to encourage more cryptocurrency transaction-based outcomes and creating cryptocurrency education and training programs for employees and customers. The implications for positive social change include the potential to assist unbanked individuals who lack creditworthiness to gain access to more goods and services to improve their overall standard of living