The Binance research team has spotted new waves of dusting attacks targeting Litecoin (LTC) wallet users.

Analysts at the Binance exchange identified a large-scale orchestrated dusting attack on the Litecoin blockchain. Several transactions have been identified with suspiciously low and identical amounts of Litecoin sent to a large number of addresses.

Litecoin Dusting — Not as Harmless as You Think

A dusting attack, at first sight, seems completely harmless and irrelevant to users. However, this is a relatively new type of malicious attack where hackers try to break users’ privacy. After tagging these small amounts, also known as ‘dust,’ attackers can keep track of all subsequent transactions. This becomes a privacy risk for users that are targeted by these attacks, as hackers can utilize blockchain analysis to potentially identify the person or company behind the wallet.

These types of attacks have been mainly organized on the Bitcoin blockchain, with several attempts being spotted during 2018. At the time, the privacy-centered wallet Samourai Wallet warned Bitcoin users of the risk.

Fighting Back

Since then several Bitcoin wallet developers have introduced updates that help combat these dustings or allow users the option to refuse these amounts in their transactions. These measures have significantly reduced the effectiveness of dusting attacks. As a result, bad actors have seemingly moved their attempts onto the Litecoin blockchain.

The Binance exchange has observed these small transactions on its own platform and has publicly revealed the scheme to warn and educate the cryptocurrency community and further limit the effectiveness of dusting attacks.

If you have a Litecoin wallet or address, beware of small amounts incoming from unknown addresses. Have you ever been the victim of a dusting attack? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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