The excerpt below is from the post Japan Gathers 500 Agents to Fight Cybercrime and Crypto Theft that appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Japan has decided to set up a new agency to better address cybercrime. The Tokyo-based center gathers 500 analysts and investigators who will also combat cryptocurrency theft. Over 3 million attempts to steal digital information have been registered last year. Hackers have stolen funds worth over 17 billion Japanese yen.  

$6.3 Million Worth of Cryptocurrency Stolen Before Coincheck

The new law enforcement unit is expected to streamline efforts to combat cybercrime. The center will operate from Tokyo. Over 500 analysts and investigators from different branches of Japanese police and other security services will work at the new agency, Kyodo reported. Authorities hope to address the internet security issues in a more efficient way.

Last year alone, hackers stole ¥17 billion JPY ($166 million USD). That includes ¥662 million ($6.3 million) worth of cryptocurrency. The amount does not cover the funds lost by Coincheck this year. In January hackers took ¥58 billion worth of NEM (~$550 million USD) from the Japanese crypto exchange. Police are still investigating the theft. The hack was probably carried out with a virus emailed to the Coincheck’s employees.

Cybersecurity experts have voiced concerns that half of the NEM coins, which disappeared in the heist, have been laundered already on the darknet. It’s believed that the attackers have converted them to other cryptocurrencies or even fiat money. A couple of weeks ago the NEM Foundation announced it would no longer track the stolen cryptos. The Singapore-based organization also said it had provided “actionable information” to law enforcement agencies investigating the hacker attack.

Crime in the cyberspace has become a real issue in Japan. More than 3 million attempts to steal computer stored data have been registered in 2017. These include cases of attacks on both credit cards and cryptocurrency wallets. Hackers have misappropriated twice as much as in 2016.

The rest of this story can be found here.

Tell Us What You Think

Cryptocurrency is here to stay, and sadly, so are cyber criminals. Protecting your possessions from an unseen threat is no easy feat.  We would like to know your thoughts.  Do you own crypto?  What are you doing to make certain it’s safe? Do you have  personal experience with a cyber crime or do you know someone who has?  Do you think Japan is on the right track with there anti-cybercrime efforts?  Is the US doing enough to combat internet theft?  Let us know in the forum below.

The post Japan Gathers 500 Agents to Fight Cybercrime and Crypto Theft appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Source: Japan Gathers 500 Agents to Fight Cybercrime and Crypto Theft