Japanese Teenager Arrested For Developing Cryptocurrency Stealing Malware

Eight days ago Japan-based exchange Coincheck was rocked by the biggest hack in the history of cryptocurrency in which 58 billion Yen ($534 million) worth of cryptocurrency was stolen from the exchange digital wallets.

Following the attack, government authorities in Japan have launched an investigation and are cracking down on any illegal hack related activities. The crackdown has led to the arrest of a 17-year-old teenager who developed a malware that steals cryptocurrency users private key to their wallet purse.

According to Mainichi, the Japanese police arrested the boy on January 30th, 2018 for developing a malware that disguised as a cryptocurrency markets lookup software so as to steal private key password to wallets of cryptocurrency users, specifically targeting MonaCoin wallets.

The teenager whose identity hasn't been revealed is a third-year high school student from Kaizuka city, Osaka Prefecture. The teenager on Oct. 10, 2017, posted the link to the malware on an online bulletin board frequented by MonaCoin users, under the guise of helping them monitor cryptocurrency market prices.

However, the police were alerted to the case when MonaCoin owners who had downloaded the app complained that their MonaCoin were missing.

According to the arrest warrant issued, the teenager's app was downloaded by a 31-year-old man from Tokyo's Edogawa Ward. After installing the app, the man found out that 170 MonaCoin from his wallet which was worth around 15,000 Yen ($668) were missing.

Upon questioning by the police, the boy denied the allegation saying, "I didn't do it with malicious intent."However, the police are also investigating if the boy stole the mans funs or not.

For those who don't know, MonaCoin is a decentralised open-source cryptocurrency launched in Japan in January 2014. The coin is a Japenese cryptocurrency, and the market value of 1 MonaCoin 434 Yen (roughly $4)

Sometime in June 2017, a 14-year-old boy was arrested for creating a ransomware and dumping the source code online. Similarly, the Japenese in September 2017 also uncovered a 13-year-old kid who sold malware online.