Alan Suderman, AP Business Writer
The Italian man’s headline grabbing story says he was invited and tortured for several weeks inside a luxury Manhattan townhouse by a captor seeking Bitcoin.
An attempted robbery is known as a “wrench attack.” This is a name popularized by online comics that laughed at how tech security could be reverted by typing someone with a wrench until they abandon their password.
Wrench attacks have been on the rise thanks to Cryptocurrency’s shift to mainstream finance, says Phil Ariss of TRM Labs at Crypto Tracing Firm in a recent blog post.
“Criminal groups already used to using violence to achieve their goals are likely to always migrate to code,” Alice said.
Some of the key characteristics of cryptographic properties help explain why wealthy individuals with many digital assets could be ripe targets for such attacks.
draw
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have full control over the funds to traders without the need to buy or sell it from banks or governments. The trade-off is that if funds are lost or stolen, there may be no way to get them back.
Independence is the important spirit of code. Retaining and controlling a private key similar to the password used to access your cryptographic retention is considered sacred among many in the cryptographic community. A popular motto is “Not your key, not your coin.”
Blockchain transactions, the technology that drives cryptocurrency, are permanent. Also, unlike cash, jewels, gold and other valuable items, thieves do not need to carry around stolen codes. With a few clicks, you can transfer a huge amount of wealth from one address to another.
Many details have yet to be released in New York, where the two were indicted, including the value of Bitcoin owned by the victim.
Crypto theft
Stealing cryptocurrency is roughly as old as the cryptocurrency itself, but is usually done by hacking. North Korean state hackers alone are believed to have stolen billions of dollars worth of code in recent years.
In response to the hacking threat, large numbers of cryptographic holders often try to separate their private keys from the Internet and store them in what they call “cold wallets.” A properly used wallet like this can defeat even the most sophisticated and determined hackers.
But they cannot defeat the thief who gives up their passwords to the victim and access their wallets and moves their money.
The New York incident is the latest in a series of famous wrench attacks. In France, several happened in France, where burglars cut off the fingers of code executives.
relief
Experts suggest several ways to mitigate the threat of wrench attacks, such as using wallets that require multiple approvals before a transaction.
Perhaps the most common way for a wealthy individual in cryptography to prevent wrench attacks is to try to remain anonymous. Using nicknames and cartoon avatars on social media accounts is common in the crypto community, even among top executives in popular companies.
Original issue: May 28, 2025 11:25am EDT
