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Like any other place, in the world of digital currencies and blockchain, there are fraudsters who intend to abuse users’ information and assets. Unfortunately, with the ever-expanding world of blockchain and the increase of user accounts, profiteers are finding new ways to commit fraud. One of these ways is called dusting attack. Dusting attack is one of the common attacks that happen in the cryptocurrency space. Where does the word dust come from in this phrase and what is its nature? Dust is actually small coins that remain from a cryptocurrency; Small amounts of cryptocurrency tokens that have little value and are usually not spendable.
This amount of cryptocurrency is so small that most users do not even notice their presence in their wallet. One of the most famous dusting attacks is known as the samurai wallet attack. This scam happened in late October 2018 and Samurai wallet users were the ones who were attacked. This attack was considered one of the first dusting attacks, and after that recommendations were given to the users of the blockchain world to prevent this from happening.
In general, dusting attacks are considered to be a type of hacking by hackers with the aim of creating a breach in privacy and obtaining user information. Despite the fact that the world of crypto is considered a safe place, unfortunately, there is always a way to scam people who want to make a profit. The general information of cryptocurrency transactions is public and can be accessed by others. For this reason, asset protection and anonymity are of great importance in the blockchain world. However, sometimes security gaps make some people to be attacked by hackers. In Dusting attack, the attacker sends small amounts of dust to the user’s wallet to identify its owner. Once identified, cyber attacks begin.
As mentioned, hackers start sending the files and after that, they start making profit and fraud. These small amounts of cryptocurrency in the user’s wallet have the authority of a spy in the target account. For example, a number of satoshis (0.00000001 bitcoins) are sent to several wallet addresses, and then the attacker tries to identify the owner of the wallet by analyzing the combination of wallet history. Finally, the fraudster connects the identified wallets to other people or companies, and in the next step, phishing or extortion threats begin. Of course, by understanding this early, you can prevent the fraud of profit-seeking people. There are different ways to thwart hackers, which we will inform you about in the following.
Now that you are familiar with the nature of the dusting attack, you must want to know how to avoid such attacks and avoid being trapped? Security always comes first in any field. By having enough knowledge, you can prevent cyber attacks as much as possible and protect your information. There are definitely ways to avoid being attacked by those using Dusting Attack. The most common method that is suggested to everyone is that the trader uses a different address for each transaction.
With this method, hackers can hardly trace the information they need. Also, it is recommended to use wallets that have high security. Usually, the amount of dust sent by fraudsters is so small that people do not notice them in their account, but if you notice this, it is better to have complete and accurate information about your wallet. This information includes knowing the exact amount of account content.
By knowing the exact amount of the wallet’s content, you can quickly contact the wallet’s officials and inform them if some coins are added. In this case, experts prevent fraudsters from profiteering. Be careful not to use your wallet in any way after you find out, so as not to be attacked by fraudsters. In fact, it can be said that if these files are not transferred to another place, hackers will not be able to identify the user’s identity and information.
It is also suggested to use wallets that have alerts or notifications. With this feature, the wallet will let you know how much new assets you’ve received, and keep track of what’s been transferred to your account. By being aware of your assets and account, you can find out about the added dust.
Choosing a reliable exchange is another recommended way to prevent dusting attacks. The high security of the exchange plays a big role in this issue, and it is good to know the history of the exchange you are using. Put your mind at ease by using a secure, tried and tested exchange. However, remember that if you are also attacked by Dusting, do not spend the transferred Dust. This action is enough to prevent abuse by hackers.
There are different people who do the dusting attack. These people usually intend to make a profit illegally and by using information theft, and in the next stages, do phishing and blackmail. Usually people are attacked
Those who have large amounts of digital currency in their wallets. These people should be more careful about their information than anyone else and constantly monitor their account to prevent it from being transferred if they see dust in their wallet. However, dusting attacks aren’t the only ones with profiteering and vandalism.
It is interesting to know that the nature of dusting is not always bad and not all people who send dust are fraudsters. Sometimes many companies, government agencies and research labs create dust to analyze the blockchain. Sometimes creating and sending dust is used intentionally to find hackers. In this case, government and security authorities use dusting attack to identify and track people who are doing illegal activities. Also, you should know that the person or group who performs the dusting attack is not necessarily the same as the person who checks its results. Due to the fact that the blockchain is considered a public network, a person who has the necessary knowledge, skills and tools to analyze the result of the attack can do this.
