A dusting attack is a threat that weighs on all holders of cryptocurrencies, in particular those with substantial capital in their portfolios. Is this a real risk for crypto investors? How to guard against a dusting attack?
What is cryptocurrency dust?
Before discussing what a ” dust attack ”, it is necessary to know what the term “ dust (or “dust” in French) in the world of cryptocurrencies. The term “dust” refers to very small amounts of cryptocurrencies that are considered worthless or negligible.
For example, if you have 0.000000001 ETH in your wallet, this very small amount is considered “dust”. Its value is extremely low and you won’t be able to do anything with it, as it will cost more to resell or trade it (due to fees) than its intrinsic value.
In the case of Bitcoin, for example, a limit is imposed by Bitcoin Corethe Bitcoin blockchain software. This one is about 546 satoshis (0.00000546 BTC) and wallets that decide to apply this limit may refuse transactions equal to or less than 546 satoshis.
If you are the holder of a crypto wallet like MetaMask for example and you observe your address on an Ethereum blockchain explorer, it is very likely that you are in possession of the tokens of which you did not know the existence. These have been sent to a very large number of wallets, including yours. As the screenshot below shows, the value of these tokens is close to zero.
Some projects try to gain popularity by sending tokens to Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum
Generally, these cryptocurrency dusts do not pose the slightest threat and can be kept in the wallet without risk. Although this is almost never successful, some projects do indeed decide to use this method to promote their tokens. Even if it clogs some wallets (like that of Vitalik Buterin), it is often just spam.
However, there is still a rare risk: the dusting attack. Although not a major concern for cryptocurrency holders, it is important to know what a dusting attack is and what measures to take to protect yourself against it.
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What is a dusting attack?
Udusting attack is used by an attacker to track targeted addresses in the hope of de-anonymizing them and knowing their owner. The aim of the attackers is therefore to link addresses and wallets to their respective owners. If successful, they can use this information against their targets, either through sophisticated phishing attacks or through cyber extortion.
Another variant, some dusting attacks are perpetrated as soon as cryptocurrency dust is sent to wallets. The transactions then contain a promotional message – most often a tantalizing false promise – who will try to deceive the owner of the wallet.
For example, scammers have already sent very small amounts of BNB to several BNB Chain addresses, adding a link to a website in the transaction memo. This scam then tried to make the holders of the targeted wallets believe that they were the winners of 50 BNB, which could supposedly be retrieved from said website. It was obviously a scam perpetrated by scammers in order to take control of the portfolio of their victims.
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Concretely, even if you receive cryptocurrency dust on your wallet, it is relatively unlikely that you will be the target of a dusting attack where the attacker seeks to know your identity, unless you are a whale and have significant amounts of crypto-assets. At the same time, if you live in an area where lack of security is a common problem, dusting attacks can be a real concern.
Regarding dusting attacks that include a promotional message, just ignore it and never click on the link in it.
To conclude, a dusting attack in itself is not necessarily dangerous, it is the following that can be, because you can be the target of phishing attempts. So, you should always exercise extreme caution if you own your own cryptocurrency wallet and avoid the most common pitfalls so as not to lose control of your funds.
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Editor-in-chief of Cryptoast, I discovered Bitcoin and blockchain technology in 2017. Since then, I have been striving to share quality content so that the sector becomes more democratic for everyone.
Clement Wardzala
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