Global Security Company G4S Branches out into Cryptocurrency Storage

U.K.-based multinational security services company G4S has developed a new service offering high-security offline storage for cryptocurrencies, the company announced in a press release published on October 16, 2018.

G4S Announces High-Security ‘Vault Storage’ for Holding Crypto

With the rise in the popularity and value of cryptocurrencies around the world in recent years, many mainstream security firms have realized the potential the burgeoning market has.

One of the latest big names to enter the cryptocurrency industry is G4S, formerly known as Group 4 Securicor. The U.K.-based security services company has developed an innovative new service offering high-security offline storage that helps to protect cryptocurrency assets from criminals and hackers.

According to the company’s press release, cryptocurrency exchanges have been turning to G4S in search of safer and more robust security solutions as they invest in their infrastructure. Dominic MacIver, a Senior Risk Analyst at G4S Risk Consulting, said that G4S Cash Solutions’ experience in protecting high-value items and G4S Risk Consulting’s experience in developing bespoke solutions to complex challenges are what attracted many of their clients.

MacIver explained that the company’s security solution is on a foundation of “vault storage.” The company takes the assets offline and breaks them up into fragments that, when independent, are without value and store them securely in their high-security vaults, keeping them out of reach of cyber criminals and armed robbers alike.

The company’s press release did not provide any additional information on how the fragment of digital assets could be stored “independently without value.”

Crypto Theft Pushes Investors to Seek Help

G4S stressed the nascent character of cryptocurrency today, which stand in great contrast with the conventional fiat money system. Maciver said that holding cryptocurrency assets still carries an incredible amount of risk, despite that many early adopters have made “enormous” attempts to protect the “immature” field.

In June 2018, cybersecurity company Carbon Black estimated that criminals have managed to steal around $1.1 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in the first half of 2018. CNBC reported that there are now 12,000 marketplaces and 34,000 offerings associated with cryptocurrency theft that hackers can choose from on the dark web.

As a result of a September 14, 2018, security breach in Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Zaif, hackers managed to steal 4.5 billion yen from users’ hot wallets, as well as 2.2 billion yen from the assets of the company, with total losses amounting to 6.7 billion yen or around $59.7 million.