Cryptocurrency Thefts Get Physical – Source: www.schneier.com

Clive Robinson • April 25, 2025 11:43 AM

@ ALL,

Like it or not this sort of thing will fairly quickly become a “normal crime”

The “smart crooks” went into “ransomware” and have made sums in the many many millions. However even ransomware needs planning and technical ability.

But as you go down the “smarts” you end up with people who to use an old quote,

“Do their thinking with their fists and boots”

Thus as @bart has noted, in effect,

“Bringing the wrench is their form of forward planning.”

But behind that of course is the reason they target the people they do.

Back many years ago an infamous US Bank Robber was “interviewed” by the FBI. In that process an FBI agent allegedly asked why he robbed banks, to which the simple reply,

“Because that’s where the money is.”

It’s become known as Sutton’s Law[1] and in the case of these steadily increasing attacks it can been seen as the “target selection” process.

Unfortunately the “intelligence” required to do this “target acquisition” is all to easily available.

The “Blockchain” is public as are the details of the wallets and what they hold.

The reason these details are as easily available as they are is due primarily to a couple of things,

1, A rather daft belief in “self sovereignty” via alleged anonymity (as falsely portrayed by crypto proponents).
2, US “guidelines” that has enforced “Know Your Customer”(KYC) requirements.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_your_customer

The thing that all these “Crypto-bros” forget is that the rules of “Might is Right” still applies.

And that the “fist thinkers” will quite happily beat to death anyone who resists them. Because even if they don’t get the crypto-coin it “sends a message” that will make their next target more compliant.

Oddly @Nick P and myself discussed how to “not be able to tell” quite some time before crypto became of interest to main stream journalists.

I proposed an “anti-duress” system where you “never know the secret” but it is shared via several adjudicators in different jurisdictions by M of N Secret Sharing (and techniques to stop replay attacks etc).

[1] In Willie Sutton’s 1976 book “Where the Money Was”, Sutton denies having been asked, but said that if he had been, then it’s the sort of thing he would have said. Sutton’s Law has been taught to many as it’s a more modern version of William of Ockam’s Razor. Or for those less astute it emphasises the “Low Hanging Fruit” Principle.