Binance, Coinbase, And Other Cryptocurrency Exchanges Reportedly Targeted By A New Trojan Virus

Today, as of March 2nd, 2020, ThreatFabric, an Amsterdam-based cybersecurity company, has released a report about a new threat to the crypto community, known as the “Cereberus” Trojan virus.

According to their report, Cereberus is capable of stealing two-factor authentication codes generated by the Google Authenticator app, which are used to secure online banking and email accounts, as well as cryptocurrency accounts on certain exchanges.

Cereberus was first identified in June of last year but has since become a more serious threat after being updated in mid-January of this year.

Once the virus is installed on a device, it is capable of downloading all content to a remote location, which can then be accessed by any number of fraudsters or criminals.

And what’s more is that, amongst 25 other cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, was also on the list of the Trojan’s main targets.

Cereberus Trojan Aimed At Major Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Like other types of malware, a Trojan virus is designed to undermine a device’s or network’s security functions.

The Cereberus virus works by stealing two-factor authentication codes (2FA) and giving them to whoever is behind the attack. On top of this, the virus is also able to steal PIN codes and swipe patterns from infected devices, giving the malicious actor access to any content present the device.

Cereberus is amongst the three other threats that have emerged recently aimed at some 26 cryptocurrency exchanges. Other than Coinbase, Xapo, Bitpay, Binance, and Wirex were also on the list of potential targets.

Fortunately, the best way to prevent a cyber attack on your crypto is to use a physical authentication key, as opposed to a digital key, which can be accessed remotely. The only way for a fraudster to gain access to a physical key is by actually gaining access to the device itself. Therefore, there’s a significantly lower chance of an attack taking place.

Security Is Important

As Cryptopotato recently reported, $45 million worth of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash was stolen from a whale investor through a purported SIM attack.

This highlights the importance of taking security measures seriously. When it comes to larger amounts of cryptocurrency, it’s always advisable to keep it on a hardware wallet which is not connected to the internet. At the same time, it’s essential to keep your seed phrases and private keys safe.

Never store large amounts of cryptocurrency on an exchange and make sure to remember the popular phrase “not your keys, not your Bitcoin.” It applies to other digital currencies as well.