Kaspersky: Mt. Gox Data Archive Contains Bitcoin-Stealing Malware

itwbennett writes "An archive containing transaction records from Mt. Gox that was released on the Internet last week also contains bitcoin-stealing malware for Windows and Mac, say researchers at Kaspersky Lab who have analyzed the 620MB file called MtGox2014Leak.zip. The files masquerade as Windows and Mac versions of a custom, back-office application for accessing the transaction database of Mt. Gox. However, they are actually malware programs designed to search and steal Bitcoin wallet files from computers, Kaspersky security researcher Sergey Lozhkin said Friday in a blog post."

Leak

[gustgr]

The leak is real, nonetheless. I found my balance and transactions there.

Old news.

[Janek Kozicki]

Coindesk already wrote about that [coindesk.com] almost two weeks ago!

Re:Really?

[ttucker]

...except this was no different from someone doing the same thing to a bank. Your arguement is invalid

This is totally false. Almost all bank transactions are reversible in the case of fraud, no bitcoin transactions are ever reversible.

Re:Really?

[sphealey]

- - - - - - NOPE! And I assure you, this mode of payment is not thousands of years old. - - - - - -

Another crytocoin fanatic who hasn't bothered to read a detailed history of money, much less a standard theory of money textbook. Hint: more than one ancient language has been deciphered by translating magic documents known as "letters of credit".

sPh

Re:Really?

[Kjella]

This is totally false. Almost all bank transactions are reversible in the case of fraud, no bitcoin transactions are ever reversible.

That's generally false [bbb.org] for wire transfers. Even if you don't do a wire transfer chances are they have some sort of money mule who'll wire the money to Nigeria and that's the last you'll see of them. The mule is of course a hobo or something with no assets to cease. In general if the receiving bank has accepted the money, it's gone. I see a few people saying you should be able to reverse one within 72 hours, but in practice I don't see anybody saying they've actually successfully reversed such a scam.

Re:Really?

[mysidia]

When someone steals real money from a bank, it is insured by the FDIC.

Actually.... loss due to fraud, theft, or accounting errors, are the iconic examples of a bank loss that IS NOT FDIC covered.

FDIC insures the funds against the bank losing the money through the ordinary course of business (market risks -- such as the risk of borrowers defaulting on the loan, and the bank, therefore losing the principal required to cover their obligations to depositors).

WP has some other examples [wikipedia.org] of items not insured by the FDIC, also not covered:

Investments backed by the U.S. government, such as US Treasury securities

The contents of safe deposit boxes. -- Even though the word deposit appears in the name, under federal law a safe deposit box is not a deposit account – it is merely a secured storage space rented by an institution to a customer.
Losses due to theft or fraud at the institution. These situations are often covered by special insurance policies that banking institutions buy from private insurance companies.

Accounting errors. In these situations, there may be remedies for consumers under state contract law, the Uniform Commercial Code, and some federal regulations, depending on the type of transaction.

Insurance and annuity products, such as life, auto and homeowner's insurance.