No matter how reliable and secure a system is, there will always be ways to hack it. Cryptocurrency blockchains are no exception here. Despite all the security of the network with the use of cryptographic methods, access to coins can be obtained. After all, the weakest link in this is directly the user – a real person who can be reached if desired.
More and more people using bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are realizing that blockchain does not protect them from third-party surveillance. On the contrary, an open registry helps in this case. After all, it is possible to trace absolutely all the wallet’s actions with coins: where they were received from, where they were sent, in what amounts, etc. All this allows attackers to find targets for theft of funds by various methods.
Why is it easier to steal coins from a wallet than to hack an exchange or service?
Cryptocurrency exchanges and various services do have a lot of coins. However, their security systems are extremely high. To hack such platforms will require significant resources and skills. You can’t do it alone, so you will have to gather a team.
At the same time, tracking transactions will affect hackers. It will be extremely difficult to cover their tracks, as the stolen coins will be immediately blacklisted and it will be incredibly difficult to use them without additional cleaning tools.
Many people will immediately think of the bitcoin mixer, as there have been similar stories in the past. However, mixing services have secured themselves by checking the purity of coins just like exchanges do. If they are on the stolen list, they simply do not accept them. Therefore, it becomes quite difficult for attackers who have stolen cryptocurrency from exchanges.
Situations with users are much simpler. Here it will not require the use of significant resources, social engineering and malware are enough. In the first case, services are created where the user unknowingly indicates the data to enter the wallet, but can not enter, or sends coins to the attacker. In the second case, the user is sent a file in which a tracking virus is hidden. He sends the stolen data to the hacker.
At the same time, no one will actually search for coins of one user. Not such huge amounts and scope for this. Coins e will get into the blacklist, and therefore the attacker can safely use them.
How can you be tracked?
One of the main principles of the bitcoin blockchain is the transparency of transactions. All of them are recorded in the register with high accuracy:
- Which address sent the coins.
- To whom they should come.
- What is the amount of the transfer.
- The approximate time the transaction took place.
- How many unspent coins the sender has left.
This data gives the attacker an accurate understanding of who has how many coins. He can trace both the sender, if there are still many coins left, and the recipient, if he received a large enough amount. The attacker’s task is to identify the digital saddle of the address of interest. He will identify the IP address by which social media accounts can be found, the actual residential address, etc.
You might think that having 2-3 bitcoins in your account is not much. However, take into account the rate of the first cryptocurrency, and you will realize that the amount in reality is more than decent. It is enough to hack a dozen of such users around the world and millions will be stolen. At the same time, the deplorable situation will not become public knowledge, because the hacking of a user is too insignificant an event for the community.
What is the essence of crypto mixers?
Cryptocurrency mixers use bitcoin mixing technology to break the sender’s connection to the transaction. With its constant use, an attacker will not be able to track where the coins from your wallet are going. Moreover, with reasonable use of all the functionality, he will not even be interested in your wallet. But about everything in order.
Cryptomixers combine all incoming coins into a common pool. After that, the system crushes bitcoins and mixes them with the coins of the service itself. The output is completely different bitcoins that have no past transaction history. As a result, the connection is broken.
Functionality and protection on the example of YoMix.io
Previously, this was enough, until they learned to find the mixers themselves and hack their bases. That’s why services started to improve. We will show it on the example of YoMix.
The service has developed a unique mixing technology that not only breaks the connection with the transaction, but also has absolute protection from analytical tools. Due to this, the risk of tracking is reduced. Additional functionality allows to reduce it virtually to zero, as all transaction parameters will be changed:
- Sending coins from multiple addresses. You can send bitcoins to the mixer using several addresses at once, which are easily created in the wallet.
- Receiving coins from multiple addresses. YoMix can split the amount as the user specifies and send both to one recipient address and to several (up to five).
- Output Delay. To prevent coins from being tracked by time, the user is offered to set a time delay. and this can be done for each transaction. For example, you have ordered output from three addresses to three recipient accounts. The first address can send coins in 2-3 hours, the second in 12 hours, and the third in 2 days. It becomes impossible to track the amount in this way, as the outputs will look like normal transactions of users in the network. At the same time they will be similar to them, which will reduce the risk of allocation of exactly your amount, if it is being tracked.
- Commission variability. Services used to charge a fixed commission as a percentage of the amount or a certain amount. These made it very easy to figure out the mixer. Therefore, now the commission is variable. The service gives a range which can be chosen by the user. This removes the risk of detecting a bitcoin mixer.
As seen with YoMix.io bitcoin mixers give good protection. Additionally, the service has a no-logging policy, which removes the risk of detecting the user’s connection to the mixers, giving them 100% privacy.
Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/bitcoin-mixers-what-is-the-essence-and-principles-of-work/