In another example of the security mantra of "be careful what you click," at least one Bitcoin trader has been robbed in a forum "phishing" attack designed specifically to ride the hype around the digital currency.The attack attempts to use Java exploits or fake Adobe updates to install malware, and it's one of the first targeted attacks aimed at the burgeoning business of Bitcoin exchanges.The bait for the attack was a post to a Bitcoin traders' forum announcing that MT.Gox was going to start handling exchanges of Litecoins, a Bitcoin alternative.The post advertised a live chat on the topic at a link provided to mtgox-chat.info.That site, which used stolen code and style to masquerade as the legitimate MT.Gox site, then prompted victims to update their Java plugin and offered a forged Adobe updater.The scam was first reported on reddit earlier this week, when a redditor reported spotting the fake site and its attempt to drop malware.While the attack was originally described by one of its victims as a "Java zero-day" exploit, it actually uses either a Java exploit or a fake Adobe updater to deliver its malware payload.

That payload is DarkComet, a fairly common "remote administration tool" and keylogger.The attackers not only stole credentials for the victim's MT.Gox account, but they took other passwords as well.bitcoin mining with piThe victim of the forum phish who reported the attack, posting under the username "bitbully," admitted that he should have been using two-factor authentication.purchase bitcoin nz"But still, this attack is rather basic and should not be possible on a site at the level of MT.Gox.ethereum labsI can only imagine how people with larger amounts would feel if clicking on a link emptied their account $10k+."eerste bitcoinThere's no indication that the security of MT.Gox had anything to do with the breach.bitcoin kaufen konto

The impostor site purportedly used to infect bitbully had nothing to do with the Bitcoin exchange.This type of attack is de rigeur in the financial world, according to George Waller, the executive vice president of Strikeforce Technologies, a security software firm specializing in two-factor authentication and anti-keylogging software for the financial industry.litecoin current value"Driving people to a site to download malware is one of the most common attacks today," he told Ars.bitcoin miner dubai"You go to a site from a forum and get prompted for Java or Adobe updates—and in the majority of those updates they drop in a keylogger.ethereum ciscoSince they're written to get around antivirus scans, AV software is useless against this sort of pervasive malware today."bitcoin usb miner

That's particularly the case in large-scale targeted attacks against businesses, where large-scale cyber-fraud operations typically deploy custom-written keyloggers and other remote administration tools.A recent report by security firm Trustwave found that 70 percent of targeted attacks on corporations used Java and other exploits through versions of the Blackhole Web exploit kit to drop their malware.Fifty percent used keyloggers and other memory scraping malware to capture data.The targeted attack wasn't the only problem facing the MT.Gox exchange.Some users have found it difficult to reach the site at all, and some believed MT.Gox was the victim of a distributed denial of service attack on the night of April 10.In a Facebook posting, the exchange told customers that the site's availability problems were not a DDoS attack, but that the site was a "victim of our own success.""Indeed the rather astonishing amount of new accounts opened in the last few days added to the existing one plus the number of trade made a huge impact on the overall system that started to lag," a company spokesperson wrote in the post.

"As expected in such a situation, people started to panic, started to sell Bitcoin in mass (Panic Sale) resulting in an increase of trade that ultimately froze the trade engine!"As a result, the company says it is working to beef up its infrastructure, but MT.Gox has not given many details on what is being done."Also please note that we may have to close the exchange for two hours in the next 12 to 24 hours to add several new servers to our system," the Facebook notice said.Update: True to its word, the company has shut down trading today.MT.Gox posted to its website that trading will resume at 11:00 AM Japan time on Thursday after being down for about 12 hours.The shutdown, while called a "trading cooldown" in the title of the post, is purportedly to allow for database upgrades to accommodate the heavy trading volume.In today's article, we wanted to look at why lower volatility for bitcoin is a great sign for those that own it and the one thing that we think can cause bitcoin to appreciate exponentially higher in the coming years, after it breaks through all time highs this year, which we predict.

Bitcoin has certainly been the story heading into 2017.The digital currency is now over $1000 per bitcoin, approaching record levels near $1163 that the digital currency hit back in 2013.The surge in bitcoin pricing has come mostly from China, as the country has put capital controls in place and also has seen the yuan devalue by about 7% over the last 12 months, an astonishing amount when it comes to a foreign currency.Though BTC is still far more volatile than most conventional currencies, it has been far less volatile over the last year, showing confidence in those that hold the digital currency.Exchange blowups and stories of hacks don't create the same panic that they did a couple of years ago.People are starting to buy, and hold, bitcoin.In terms of breaking through new highs, the recent technical surge in the currency and the break through the $1000 mark simply has us and the market believing that it can break through all time highs and continue moving higher this year.A lot has happened in the three years since bitcoin was at these levels prior.

We have seen several bitcoin exchanges blow up, we have seen volatility in the global currency market and we have seen major companies in major banks start to look at Blockchain as a form of currency.Focus has always turned to bitcoin, whether it was after the Brexit vote or after the U.S.Over the last three years, bitcoin has undergone a seismic shift in confidence, lacking in confidence after the first exchange breach and coming full circle with renewed confidence into this year.It is this confidence that has propelled the currency back over $1000 and it is the same confidence that we believe will move it to all-time highs easily this year.From these all time highs, where can we go?Is bitcoin capable of moving even higher?What would spur such a rise in demand that bitcoin can be expected to move to $2000, $3000, or even $5000?We think we know.Right now, bitcoin is still a relatively esoteric instrument.It is not like a stock or an option or a traditional currency pair that can be easily traded through whatever brokerage platform you have or whatever trading account you have set up.

It can't be transacted physically, like cash or gold, and not many people understand what it is or how it works.When accessibility and understanding are both finally addressed on a mainstream retail scale, we believe that bitcoin's price is going to continue to surge upward and eventually, at some point, create some sort of buyers' panic.Let's face it: the addressable market for bitcoin users is extraordinarily small.It is pigeonholed to those that have at least a rudimentary understanding of how the digital currency works and those who have the technological savvy to install a bitcoin wallet and begin to transact bitcoins, using a broker to purchase and sell them.Coinbase has done well to be the first app that makes it simple for its users to buy and sell bitcoin.As more and more companies moving forward make bitcoin more and more accessible, we expect to see the overall user base for bitcoin expand significantly, causing a marked shift up in the currency's price.Also on the radar to help bitcoin go mainstream are a couple of items.

First, there is going to be a bitcoin movie, "Banking on Bitcoin," released in January.Econotimes reported, A feature film on bitcoin titled 'Banking on Bitcoin' that showcases the digital currency's evolution, is scheduled to be released in selected theaters on January 6, 2017, along with Video on Demand (NASDAQ:VOD) release.The movie will illustrate the growth and development of bitcoin, which is the most disruptive digital invention since the internet.It will have an in-depth coverage of important players in the industry including Charlie Shrem, bitcoin advocate, founding member of Bitcoin Foundation and co-founder of BitInstant; Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, co-founders of Gemini; Barry Silbert, founder & CEO of Digital Currency Group (DCG); Erik Voorhees, CEO & founder at ShapeShift.io; among others.It will provide an insight into how these bitcoin veterans think this revolutionary cryptocurrency technology will shape their lives.Second, there are going to be new bitcoin ETFs that trade on major exchanges, tracking the price of bitcoin.

These ETFs will likely become popular instruments not only here in the United States, but also internationally.In order to create their asset base, they are all going to have to purchase bitcoin as well and this is just a small example of how mainstream popularity would cause an influx of buying.Believe it or not, even though bitcoin has been around for a little while, we are still in the prehistoric stages of the currency right now.That's why we continue to add, regardless of whether the price is at $800, $600 or $1000.We believe price appreciation in the future will be so significant that the small changes in the currency price now that represent 20% or 30% here and there will be irrelevant.We also believe that once bitcoin's price becomes major media news and we see real buyers' euphoria come in, that the price of bitcoin will undergo a buyers' panic type moment that will drive the price up probably far too soon, far too fast.This will not likely be a 2017 event, but we can look out two or three years when bitcoin starts to get even more traction and easily construct this type of scenario in our heads.