Attack Alert: Are You Aware of Crypto Dusting Attacks?
Cyber attacks, blockchain and crypto attacks are on the rise. But you will be surprised to know that the Dusting attack is not going to steal your money. Also, it is going to collect information related to users causing harm later. It is a large-scale scheme that works with very little crypto. Stay tuned as we reveal more about Dust Attack!
Is a crypto dusting attack a serious threat?
Of course it is! First, let’s understand what a dust attack is. When the culprit or offender sends very small amount of crypto to your wallet, so small that it cannot be traced, it is called a dust attack. It is called a “dust attack” because the amount of crypto used in it for attack is very less, which is called “dust” or a small amount of crypto left in the wallet.
The motive behind a dust attack is to uncover the real identity of the wallet holder. And they keep doing it until they collect all the information and then violate the user’s privacy by tracking their transactions.
Cryptodusting attacks are serious because KYC details are mandatory almost everywhere and the offender can reveal personal data that has been stolen. Not only this, they can also track the other wallet addresses associated with the person’s wallet.
With all this information, the offender can plan a larger attack on the individual. Given that the information contains all the basic information about victims, physical attacks or crimes also become a possibility.
But what’s worse is that these attacks are almost undetectable. If you are in the habit of checking your wallet daily, you might be able to identify such an attack. In general, most of us are not in the habit of paying attention to the flow of crypto on account with strange low amounts as low as 0.000001 BTC. This is almost negligible as it causes no visible change to your wallet.
When there is a problem there is also a solution! The good news is that there are ways we can ensure safety. The very first way is to use a hierarchical deterministic (HD) wallet. The advantage of using this wallet is that this wallet generates the new public key for each transaction. Therefore, if you trade with your dust amount, it will be impossible to trace back as the transaction shown will be from a new address.
The other solution to be on the safer side is to use a VPN or proxy network on your system. This reduces the chances of tracking someone’s identity. There are also some exchanges that allow you to convert dust in your account to their native currency, such as BNB.
Finally, by following some precautions, you can always protect yourself from cryptodusting attacks. These days there are many dust attacks and the motive behind these attacks is to reveal the information of the user by stealing their personal data.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He has been a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralization, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
