New Research Shows Massive Internet Spying, Several Crypto Sites Listed

A mammoth global spying and data theft effort currently leaves web surfing citizens at risk, with several Bitcoin and crypto domains included in the mix, according to research from Awake Security. 

At the heart of the problem — a web domain registration company named CommuniGal Communication, or GalComm. "Of the 26,079 reachable domains registered through GalComm, 15,160 domains, or almost 60%, are malicious or suspicious," Awake wrote in a June 18 blog post. 

A list of sites at risk

Although the nefarious movement uses several different methods, including malware, such activity has passed under the radar of popular security systems, thanks to various tactics, Awake wrote, posting a link to affected domains. 

The lengthy list shows a number of crypto and bitcoin-related domains, including cryptolimited.org, cryptocoiners.net, cryptomoedas.info, bitcoincompass.info and bitcoininvestmentstrategy.info, as well as others. 

The list even included binanceref.info and binanceregister.info, although it is unknown if the two sites are involved with popular exchange Binance. 

Binance confirmed to Cointelegraph that the above websites are not associated with them.

Other involved browser antics 

Awake also reported over a hundred cases of issues around GalComm-affiliated nefarious Google Chrome extensions — in just a three-month span.

"These extensions can take screenshots, read the clipboard, harvest credential tokens stored in cookies or parameters, grab user keystrokes (like passwords), etc.," Awake said in the post. 

Awake added:

"To date, there have been at least 32,962,951 downloads of these malicious extensions — and this only accounts for the extensions that were live in the Chrome Web Store as of May 2020."

The movement has its hand in essentially every category, from healthcare to oil, Awake wrote. 

Awake did not come across any large crypto sites affected by the effort, although the company did not focus on crypto or its sites during its research, Awake co-founder Gary Golomb told Cointelegraph via email correspondence. Awake also did not uncover evidence of cryptocurrency as part of the surveillance, again, however, noting crypto was not a direct part of the study, Golomb said. 

Since COVID-19 prevention measures took flight in mid-March, internet crime has risen across the board. A recent U.S. congressional hearing showed a 75% increase in cybercrime since COVID-19's beginnings.