Florida arrest details a coerced-access robbery of a cryptocurrency holder

Police in Florida arrested an individual on a dozen felony charges tied to a home invasion. Investigators allege that a co-defendant an individual into the apartment while the victim was upstairs and that individual displayed a firearm and later held a kitchen knife to the back of the victim's head before the two bound him with duct tape. Police allege the intruders held the victim's phone to his face to unlock it, entered his crypto account, sold his cryptocurrency, and took cash, property, and digital currency. According to police, the pair deleted seven home-security camera clips, and the victim's phones were factory reset afterward.

ASSESSMENT

Sometimes referred to as "wrench attacks", these physical coercion methods can be used to get around digital defenses by forcing a holder to unlock a device and move funds. Sometimes entry is facilitated by someone known to the victim and the use of the victim's own face or fingerprint to open a device. There has also been a rise in such attacks alongside more visible digital-asset wealth and attacks while traveling.

TAKEAWAYS

• Build in safety mechanisms for transfers. Examine if banking and digital-asset access is arranged so that a single coerced device-unlock cannot reach everything and drain all accounts.

  
  

• Revisit how a household vets and limits who has routine physical access and knowledge of what is kept at home.

  
  

• Determine whether camera and recording systems have constant monitoring by third parties and retain footage off the premises, where on-scene tampering is harder and potential security incidents can be viewed in real time.

  
  

Source: Local 10 News