Interpol warns: viruses can get to you along with bitcoins

The representative of Interpol spoke about possible threats emanating from the “block chain” - the technology used in the work of cryptocurrencies. One of the threats is the ability to build malware into the chain. The agency made this report, created in collaboration with experts from Kaspersky Lab, at the largest information security conference Black Hat , which this year was held in Singapore.

The blockchain protocol serves as the basis of the cryptocurrency operation system. It is, in fact, a worldwide financial book in which all transactions carried out in the system are deposited. From the principle of the chain, it follows that these records are stored forever and are accessible to all comers. At the same time, the creators of the protocol provided for the possibility of embedding any information in the transaction. And this, according to experts from Interpol, means that something harmful can be embedded there.

There was already a case when in 2013 the hooligans embedded links to sites with child pornography, which the real war was declared on the Internet, in the bitcoin block chain. It turns out that this information will now be stored in a chain of blocks, since there is no mechanism for removing it from there. In the same way, viruses with Trojans can be embedded in the chain - and this, according to Interpol, will threaten all users of cryptocurrencies.
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A few weeks later, Interpol Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI) opened a new Interpol division to combat “innovative crimes”. His future director Nobor Nakatani told the conference that the Trojans built into the block chain can extract information and transmit it to hackers, who will then be based on botnets. Interpol considers it his duty to bring information about these threats to the public in order to find solutions to such problems.