Ring In The New Year With Security Tools from MetaCert
By: Jeremy Nation
Tags: Cybersecurity, Business, Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Technology

Ring In The New Year With Security Tools from MetaCert

Don’t get blindsided by a scam; MetaCert will keep you safe from phishing attacks.

Everywhere there’s a buck to me made someone is trying to cheat someone else, and while that unpleasant reality might not leave a good taste in your mouth, MetaCert has your back, with tools that will allow you to differentiate between legitimate web resources and scams.

Forging into the new year, whether you’re just getting into cryptocurrency, or you’re a veteran hodler, chances are good you’ve heard about the ripoff schemes plied by malicious actors. Part of the problem lies with a mixture of sophisticated methods used by scammers paralleled with a sentiment of urgency that comes from the fear of missing out. These factors conflate with misinformation campaigns designed to ensnare newcomers to the scene.

One of the things throwing fuel on the fire is a basic lack of understanding. People who are just getting inducted into the scene often do not know how to manage public versus private keys, or which cryptocurrency exchanges are the right ones to set up an account at, and how to move their digital assets to a cold storage wallet. This basic lack of understanding means people are likely to ask questions, which makes them targets for malicious actors who use misinformation to socially engineer an attack.

Another problem is that supposedly trustworthy sources of information often fail to weed out the scammers. For instance, compromised Twitter accounts, sometimes even those verified by the platform itself, have been known to successfully place promotional ads featuring links to known phishing scams. If people see an advertisement for a cryptocurrency scam as a promoted tweet, they will be more susceptible to believing that type of scam is legitimate; while they may not fall for it immediately, they may later reference that instance and fall for a different scam, misinterpreting the information from seeing a scam in a promoted tweet.

Twitter needs to do a better job preventing scams like this from being widely distributed to its users.

One hopes that eventually this issue is something that will be managed from the inside out as cryptocurrency systems begin to scale outwards and compete with legacy remittance systems. Once that happens the user interface side is less likely to feature hexadecimal code keys which can be difficult for the human eye to differentiate from another.

Until that day comes, you can continue to rely on security tools from MetaCert.

An Ecosystem Swarming With Threats

After a significant mainstream boom in 2017, nearly every chat service and social media site was crawling with crypto scammers to the point where MetaCert had to take action.

Shortly after MetaCert developed tools for Slack that eradicated the phishing on the platform, MetaCert CEO and Founder Paul Walsh accurately predicted that scammers would migrate to another platform; Telegram. Again, MetaCert sprung into action, and created a bot that identifies dangerous resources such as malicious URLs and cryptocurrency addresses associated with phishing campaigns.

Today, MetaCert’s powerful tools allow users to easily differentiate between legitimate and dangerous resources at a glance.

The Anatomy of the Scam

Phishing scams today are often difficult to discern from their legitimate counterparts. In one case a user would have need a microscope to identify a tiny pixel above character to differentiate the scam site from the real one. Other times scammers use automated systems to get a green lock signifying SSL certification on their phishing site, and consumers fall for that. The truth is, without a valid verification system, it’s practically impossible to tell at a glance whether a site is safe or not until it’s too late.

Don’t simply trust the padlock!

The Green Shield of Trust

MetaCert has verified legitimate web resources with a green shield of trust, seen by subscribers to the Cryptonite browser plugin. That means you’ll see the green shield of trust whenever you visit a verified cryptocurrency related website, social media account, wallet provider, and/or cryptocurrency exchange.

In 2018 we continued to expand our database of over 10 billion classified uniform resource identifiers across over 60 categories thanks to the participation of our community and our hard working team. In 2019 we intend to expand our verification services beyond crypto to encompass sites also targeted by phishing scammers including mainstream companies, payment portals, and more.

Soon the green shield of trust will also signify you’re safe when you’re buying things online, paying bills, or otherwise managing finances through online banking services, so you’ll always know you’re in the right place on the web.

Remember, if the shield is black, that means the site hasn’t been verified and might not be trustworthy, so use caution.

$150 Worth Of MetaCert Tokens As A Special Bonus

Your subscription to Cryptonite today will get you more than a year’s worth of safety. For the first 2,000 subscribers to Cryptonite we’re offering $150 in MetaCert Tokens, to be distributed following the end of our public sale. You’ll know right away if you’re one of the first 2,000 subscribers:

To subscribe to Cryptonite now, follow these instructions.

Email Security

MetaCert is still beta testing our email security tool that is sure to revolutionize the way you see links in your email. Many phishing emails contain links, or images with hyperlinks. MetaCert’s email security tool uses a color coded system to warn you against known threats, or potentially malicious links. Every link that appears in your email will feature a shield beside it; if the shield is green you’re safe, and if the shield is red you know it’s a phishing link. Again, if the shield is black, that means the resource hasn’t been verified, and that you should use extreme caution clicking on it.

Sign up for our email security tool for iOS today, and see how we’re changing the way people see links in their email.

This report was brought to you by MetaCert.

Join the conversation with us on Telegram, and find out why MetaCert is the new shield of trust for web resources. You can also check out our white paper and technical paper, and follow us @MetaCert on Twitter.

MetaCert Protocol is decentralizing cybersecurity for the Internet, by defining ownership and URL classification information about domain names, applications, bots, crypto wallet addresses, social media accounts and APIs. The Protocol’s registry can be used by ISPs, routers, Wi-Fi hotspots, crypto wallets and exchanges, mobile devices, browsers and apps, to help address cyber threats such as phishing, malware, brand protection, child safety and news credibility. Think of MetaCert Protocol as the modern version of the outdated browser padlock and whois database combined.