Christopher Allen

@ChristopherA

#SmartCustody adversary category “Loss by Crime, Other”

I've spent a lot of time on the category of THEFT, but it's not the only sort of crime that can impact your cryptocurrency holdings. There's a whole other category, which I wittily called LOSS BY CRIME, OTHER. (1/10)

6/23/2020, 2:05:44 PM

Favs: 6

Retweets: 3

Christopher Allen

@ChristopherA

I place four different adversaries in this #SmartCustody category: Blackmail, Coercion, Terrorism, and Non-Financially-Motivated Attackers. The unifying theme is that they're trying to take your digital assets by illegal means. (2/10)

6/23/2020, 2:05:45 PM

Favs: 0

Retweets: 0

Christopher Allen

@ChristopherA

Yes, some of these OTHER adversaries are still technically THEFT, but they tend to be risks with bigger consequences than just losing property. You could lose your reputation or your life! (3/10)

6/23/2020, 2:05:46 PM

Favs: 0

Retweets: 0

Christopher Allen

@ChristopherA

I iconify these criminals as a man with a overcoat and a shotgun. That's pretty scary too. (4/10)

6/23/2020, 2:05:47 PM

Favs: 0

Retweets: 0

Christopher Allen

@ChristopherA

These can be darker crimes, but they're also somewhat less likely. Are you really likely to be kidnapped? (A form of coercion.) Could you even be blackmailed? I suspect mostly not. (5/10)

6/23/2020, 2:05:47 PM

Favs: 0

Retweets: 0

Christopher Allen

@ChristopherA

But of course the point of #SmartCustody is to anthropomorphize adversaries so that you understand them better, and to use that as the foundation for determining whether they're threats to you (personally) or not. (6/10)

6/23/2020, 2:05:48 PM

Favs: 0

Retweets: 0

Christopher Allen

@ChristopherA

We might viscerally fear being kidnapped for our Bitcoins (or that man in the covercoat), but by modeling the risk we can determine if it's actually likely. If it isn’t, it may be better concentrate our efforts on another risk. (7/10)

6/23/2020, 2:05:49 PM

Favs: 0

Retweets: 0

Christopher Allen

@ChristopherA

The motive of these adversaries is mixed. Like other crimes, greed is a big factor, but the non-fincially-motivated attackers could be hackers, hactivists, or just bored kids. (8/10)

6/23/2020, 2:05:50 PM

Favs: 0

Retweets: 0