美国国家公共电台 NPR--FTX collapse offers lessons about the cyber risks of cryptocurrency investing

FTX collapse¹ offers lessons about the cyber risks of cryptocurrency investing

Transcript²

The scandal involving the "King of Crypto" and the crash of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX continues to unfold. Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is under investigation³ for financial crimes.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

More fallout from the FTX crypto scandal. The former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is under investigation for financial crimes. But he and his lawyers, meanwhile, are also making allegations about hackers⁵ pilfering⁶ customers' digital cash. NPR cybersecurity correspondent Jenna McLaughlin is here to explain. Hey, Jenna.

JENNA MCLAUGHLIN, BYLINE⁷: Hey there.

MARTIN: So this scandal has gotten so big, I understand, that investors⁸ are suing big names - Tom Brady and Steph Curry⁹. What?

MCLAUGHLIN: Yeah, it's pretty wild. To summarize, Sam Bankman-Fried, in 2018, he created what's called a cryptocurrency exchange, which is a place to trade, exchange, buy, sell different forms of cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. And it quickly got really popular, including with celebrities¹⁰. But Fried also had this second company, Alameda Capital, which was his own, personal trading firm. The investigation, of course, is still ongoing¹¹. But what's been alleged¹² is he took money from investors in FTX. And he used it to trade with through Alameda and lost it.

MARTIN: OK. But draw the connection for me, Jenna. What does this have to do with cybersecurity? Is anyone accusing anyone else of stealing funds besides the founder¹³?

MCLAUGHLIN: Yeah, that's actually where things get a little bit tricky¹⁴. Bankman-Fried and his lawyers have alleged that it's not just FTX's mistakes that have left investors with empty pockets. They say that there's also been a breach¹⁵ after they declared bankruptcy¹⁶ and that they've hired a cybersecurity firm to investigate. Though, I'm not sure which one. Most recently, Bankman-Fried has changed his tune¹⁷ a little bit. During a live interview with The New York Times Wednesday night, he said he believes some money was seized by Bahamian and U.S. authorities. But he still alleged that an unknown third party took the rest. Regardless of whether hackers took the money, though, it is true the cryptocurrency exchanges are pretty vulnerable to cyberattacks.

MARTIN: So explain why. And shouldn't that be quite troublesome?

MCLAUGHLIN: Yeah, absolutely. That does create some confusion, because you've probably heard of this thing called a blockchain...

MARTIN: Right.

MCLAUGHLIN: ...Which is a secure record of digital transactions that can't be altered. But once you move your money to exchanges, rather than keeping it safe in your virtual wallet, that's where the danger comes. So I spoke¹⁸ to Megan Stifel. She's the chief strategy officer for the Institute for Security and Technology. And she's testified about this topic for Congress. Here's how she put it.

MEGAN STIFEL: Not being a regulated space or commonly regulated space, there isn't this kind of - as there is in the financial services sector¹⁹, per se, more broadly - requirements around cybersecurity.

MCLAUGHLIN: And she said that that has led to some pretty big breaches²⁰ in the past. For example, in October, one of the biggest exchanges, Binance, reported potential losses of up to half a billion dollars after a hack⁴.

MARTIN: So when all this settles - and it may be a while before it does, with all these charges and allegations - do you believe, Jenna, based on your reporting, that all this is going to inspire new cybersecurity requirements?

MCLAUGHLIN: So my source, Megan Stifel, said that she thinks it's too soon to say, especially since we don't know if a breach happened here. Like you mentioned, it could be a while before we get answers. But she said that it might be a chance for lawmakers or other countries - FTX is in the Bahamas, for example - to think about how existing regulations might apply to cryptocurrencies. Even so, it's not a total disaster as is for investigators²¹ because there are a lot of tools in place to investigate these kinds of crimes that already exist. Cybercriminals, for example, often think that cryptocurrency is really anonymous²², when in reality, that blockchain that I mentioned earlier does actually record every transaction. Plus, the process of actually turning virtual currency into cash isn't always so easy.

MARTIN: Right. NPR cybersecurity correspondent Jenna McLaughlin. Thanks.

MCLAUGHLIN: Thank you.

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

5 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

6 pilfering   

v.偷窃（小东西），小偷( pilfer的现在分词 )；偷窃（一般指小偷小摸）

参考例句：

• He was caught pilfering. 他行窃时被抓个正着。
• Pilfering has stopped entirely since they put Angus in charge of the stores. 自从他们让安格斯掌管商店以来，小偷小摸就杜绝了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

9 curry   

n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革

参考例句：

• Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米饭最棒。
• Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。

10 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

11 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

12 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

13 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

14 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

15 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

16 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

17 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

18 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

19 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

20 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

21 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。