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Hackers nab $500k as Enigma is compromised weeks before its ICO

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Re: Hackers nab $500k as Enigma is compromised weeks before its ICO

#161

Post by laumars »

tectec wrote: post #22
laumars wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is where two factor authentication comes into play. Then you can have something you know (eg password) and something you own (eg phone). I quite like using Google Authenticator for my 2FA.

There are also problems with that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15068567

There are problems with any method of authentication when being targeted by a determined enough theoretical attack. The key is to find a process that balances risk against inconvenience. Google Authenticator (which, by the way, isn't what your link refers to. That only covers SMS) is a great middle ground for most reasonable security requirements. If you feel the need for something stronger then go for 3 factors, alerting systems, disable remote logins entirely or whatever extra steps is recommended by your pen testers.

I should also add that to just highlight problems with one specific method of 2FA without establishing that it is still more secure than a single factor password, let alone acknowledging that other methods of identification are available, somewhat misses the point of 2FA.

Re: Hackers nab $500k as Enigma is compromised weeks before its ICO

#162

Post by lloyd-christmas »

CyberDildonics wrote: post #143
nickbauman wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never said anything should be prevented. But you just illustrated my point exactly. Gold (and cryptocurrencies) cannot support a market economy because of the problem of hoarding a limited resource and the lack of representation of debt. Even the ancients knew this: they would require taxes be paid in the _coin of the realm,_ not just gold. Requiring this made it possible for monarchs to facilitate a market economy…

> Gold (and cryptocurrencies) cannot support a market economy because of the problem of hoarding a limited resource and the lack of representation of debt. That's a bold claim to throw out there with nothing to back it up. Gold has been used as a currency for thousands of years. Crypto-currencies are out there working whether you like it or not. To say that they can't work is pretty silly when they are literally work…

Cowry[0] is an even better example than gold. It predates gold coinage, and was used between 3000BC[1] all the way to the 19th century[2] as a cross-culture currency throughout the world. Its scientific name is even Monetaria moneta.

[0] http://www.conchsoc.org/interests/shell-money.php

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money#History

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetaria_moneta#As_money

Re: Hackers nab $500k as Enigma is compromised weeks before its ICO

#164

Post by [deleted] »

chatmasta wrote: post #93
tlrobinson wrote: post #69

I'm not sure I buy the premise that every service needs its own coin. Surely in most cases it would be better to just use the most widely used, most stable coin? If the concept of cryptocurrency is going to survive I think there needs to be one or two clear winners to eventually bring some stability to their value. Of course, not issuing your own coin doesn't leave as much opportunity to get rich quick off a bit of h…

In the case of ethereum backed coins, every service does not really have its own coin, but rather a derivative of ethereum. As long as the coin is tradeable for general ETH tokens, it must fundamentally be pegged to the price of ethereum, even if it's traded separately on exchanges. There are obvious downsides to that, but it's a tradeoff for ease of development. You can create your own "coin" -- really just a (set o…

[deleted]

Re: Hackers nab $500k as Enigma is compromised weeks before its ICO

#165

Post by KGIII »

bpicolo wrote: post #160
KGIII wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right? I do have a Ph.D. from MIT, even. I'd advise them to incorporate their PDF, and perhaps lesson taker's info, into a blockchain.

It's the first blockchain based Ph.D. program. Your degree is immutable and distributed.

Well, that's plenty for an ICO. Let's run with it. I know some PHP and can install WordPress!

Re: Hackers nab $500k as Enigma is compromised weeks before its ICO

#166

Post by ascendantlogic »

che_shirecat wrote: post #56

How to make money in ethereum, from high to low risk: 1. Dump the leftovers of your bi-weekly software engineering paycheck into buying ETH, BTC, or whichever altcoin is popular this week. It went up 5000% in the past, it's got to keep growing right? 2. Participate in an ICO and stock up on whatever platform token they're hawking. It's more profitable if you get in early due to some presale mechanism (hopefully here…

I wonder if this is what the curmudgeons from the 70's and 80's sounded like during the web 1.0 boom of the mid-to-late 90's

Re: Hackers nab $500k as Enigma is compromised weeks before its ICO

#167

Post by psyc »

ascendantlogic wrote: post #166
che_shirecat wrote: post #56

How to make money in ethereum, from high to low risk: 1. Dump the leftovers of your bi-weekly software engineering paycheck into buying ETH, BTC, or whichever altcoin is popular this week. It went up 5000% in the past, it's got to keep growing right? 2. Participate in an ICO and stock up on whatever platform token they're hawking. It's more profitable if you get in early due to some presale mechanism (hopefully here…

I wonder if this is what the curmudgeons from the 70's and 80's sounded like during the web 1.0 boom of the mid-to-late 90's

I find the economic promise of the nascent Internet objectively more plausible than the promises of ~1000 altcoins.

Re: Hackers nab $500k as Enigma is compromised weeks before its ICO

#168

Post by saalweachter »

arkitaip wrote: post #49
wott wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am unconvinced that hard earned money is 'invested' in those companies. The target demographic is not hard working class.

You would be surprised. People know nothing about Bitcoin but have a friend, uncle or acquaintance who has dropped a few thousands in BTC and raves about the price going from 580 usd to 4000 usd in just a year. People lose their minds and they won't even have shitty tulips to show for it.

See, that's the thing with the old tulip story. At the heart of the bubble there were a number of people who just wanted a damn tulip.

Re: Hackers nab $500k as Enigma is compromised weeks before its ICO

#169

Post by psyc »

tzz wrote: post #163

There are a lot of scams on the web, but you don't blame the HTTP protocol. There are a lot of email scams, but you don't blame SMTP. Sad to see the dominant view of this community is against any type of cryptocurrency.

I don't think HN is remotely opposed to "cryptocurrency", but at the same time it's abundantly clear IMO that what's happening at this moment is a full-bore speculative mania.

Re: Hackers nab $500k as Enigma is compromised weeks before its ICO

#170

Post by eswat »

SirensOfTitan wrote: post #71
jstanley wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because you invent a special type of escrow contract that makes it harder to steal money doesn't mean an attacker would use it... he would just instruct users to send money to his own contract and bypass all of the protections you've invented.

When did I mention an attacker should use this? How does that argument make sense at all? Legitimate ICOs should take on use of these widgets and contracts, educating users in the process to only send to particular contracts. This requires a great deal of improved hygiene for ICO providers and education for consumers, but there’s no easy foot forward here.

One problem is that the correct contract to fund an ICO might even change during the ICO (as it has happened with EOS) and the current way these “businesses” are communicating these contract changes is pretty poor.

So yeah, we definitely need improved hygiene that addresses the pain points of trying to do these funding events through a blockchain.

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