Bitcoin Thefts Surge, DDoS Hackers Take MillionsCryptographic currency's massive rise in value leads to a corresponding increase in online heists by criminals seeking easy paydays.
[image: 10 IT Job Titles We Miss]<http://www.informationweek.com/strategic-cio/digital-business/10-it-job-titles-we-miss/d/d-id/1006276> 10 IT Job Titles We Miss (Click image for larger view.) Say you've created a cryptographic currency called bitcoin that promises users relative anonymity and untraceable transactions. What could possibly go wrong? The answer, of course, is that these virtues also appeal to hackers, malware developers, and organized crime rings who wouldn't think twice about committing virtual bank robberies. Earlier this month, for example, Bitcoin Internet Payment System (BIPS), a Denmark-based Bitcoin payment processor, suffered a denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. Unfortunately for users of the company's free online wallets for storing bitcoins, the DDoS attack was merely a smokescreen for a digital heist that quickly drained numerous wallets, netting the attackers a reported 1,295 bitcoins -- worth nearly $1 million -- and leaving wallet users with little chance that they'd ever see their money again. See http://www.informationweek.com/security/attacks-and-breaches/bitcoin-thefts-surge-ddos-hackers-take-millions/d/d-id/1112831
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