Business banking news review: week ending 21 Nov 2013
If you’re anything like me, you hear the word ‘bitcoin’ and wonder just what in the world that is – but we might all be in for a crash course very, very soon.
If you’ve never heard of bitcoins, don’t feel like you’re behind the times. Well, you are behind the times for not hearing about them, but don’t let that bother you – all you need to know is that it’s a digital currency used by terrorists, criminals, and paedophiles.
At least that’s what the US Senate thinks bitcoins are for. Well no one ever said politicians were smart after all. Honestly the only thing a bitcoin is, when you break it down to brass tacks, is a bit of digital code that can be converted into real world currency; unlike dollars, euros, or pounds sterling, bitcoins don’t get deposited in personal or business bank accounts but instead live online in a digital wallet. They’re becoming quite popular with the internet community and there are many e-commerce websites that will accept payments in bitcoins.
So is there a risk that criminals will be using bitcoins? Of course there is, but that’s no different than any other currency. However, there are extortionists that are turning to bitcoin instead of cold, hard real-world cash, and another recent news story highlighted the rise of bitcoin bandits.
Apparently there’s a new trend in email scam campaigns where a potential victim receives an email from their banking institution, claiming that there’s a problem with their savings account or current account and that the customer needs to review the attached file to learn more about the problem. As soon as the hapless target opens the attachment, though, a program runs that locks down their computer – and you can only unlock it if you pay money to the bastards that sent you the program in the first place.
These sort of ‘ransomware’ attacks aren’t essentially anything new, but now these scammers aren’t content to ask for their payments in dollars or euros – no, now they’ve switched to bitcoins. Right now the average payment is around two bitcoins, which doesn’t sound like much – the only problem is that with the current exchange rate that could be well over £500 – and then there’s no guarantee these bastards will actually unlock your computer!
So just be on the lookout. Don’t open any suspicious email attachments. In the meanwhile, you might want to investigate whether you can invest in some bitcoins, eh? Can’t hurt.