Anatomy of a High-Profile Data Breach: Dissecting the Aftermath of a Crypto-Wallet Case
Svetlana Abramova, Rainer B\"ohme

TL;DR
This study investigates the downstream effects of data breaches on crypto-wallet users, revealing new attack vectors, victim concerns, and implications for cybersecurity practices through a survey of affected individuals.
Contribution
It provides a detailed case study of a crypto-wallet data breach, highlighting new attack methods and victim responses, and discusses methodological challenges in breach research.
Findings
Common nuisances like spam and phishing increased
New attack vectors involving tampered devices identified
Victims show heightened safety concerns and skepticism
Abstract
Media reports show an alarming increase of data breaches at providers of cybersecurity products and services. Since the exposed records may reveal security-relevant data, such incidents cause undue burden and create the risk of re-victimization to individuals whose personal data gets exposed. In pursuit of examining a broad spectrum of the downstream effects on victims, we surveyed 104 persons who purchased specialized devices for the secure storage of crypto-assets and later fell victim to a breach of customer data. Our case study reveals common nuisances (i.e., spam, scams, phishing e-mails) as well as previously unseen attack vectors (e.g., involving tampered devices), which are possibly tied to the breach. A few victims report losses of digital assets as a form of the harm. We find that our participants exhibit heightened safety concerns, appear skeptical about litigation efforts,…
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Taxonomy
TopicsInformation and Cyber Security · Advanced Malware Detection Techniques · Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies
