- Attackers try to break the privacy of Bitcoin and link addresses to its owners (persons or companies)
- Spear Phishing attacks, cyber extortion threads, tax collection scheme by governments.
- They work for both.
- You can mark these dust amounts with “do not spend”, so they cannot be tracked by the attacker
https://twitter.com/SamouraiWallet/status/1055345822076936192?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1055345822076936192|twgr^|twcon^s1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbtcmanager.com%2Fbitcoin-wallet-samourai-dusting-attack%2F
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What is the goal of a dusting attack?The goal is to eventually link the dusted addresses and wallets to their respective companies or individuals.
If a dusting attack is successful, how is the victim at risk?If successful, the attackers may use this knowledge against their targets, either through elaborated phishing attacks or cyber-extortion threats.
Do dusting attacks work for type-1 HD wallets, type-2, or both?Both.
What features did Samourai Wallet add to protect against dusting attacks? In late October 2018, Samourai Wallet developers announced that some of their users were under dusting attacks. The company sent out a tweet warning users about the attacks and explaining how they could protect themselves. The Samourai Wallet team implemented a real-time alert for dust tracking as well as a “Do Not Spend” feature that lets users mark suspicious funds, so these are not included in future transactions.
Since dusting attacks rely on a combined analysis of multiple addresses, if a dust fund is not moved, attackers aren’t able to make the connections they need to “deanonymize” the wallets. Samourai Wallet already has the ability to automatically report suspicious transactions to their users. Despite the dust limit of 546 satoshis, many dusting attacks today are well above it and are usually ranging from 1000 to 5000 satoshis.
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What is the goal of a dusting attack?
Is to de-anonymize the addresses and identify the owner’s wallet. -
If a dusting attack is successful, how is the victim at risk?
The person will be victim of phishing attacks, reversal engineering, etc. to steal their funds. -
Do dusting attacks work for type-1 HD wallets, type-2, or both?
Will say both, because anyone can send coins to your wallet. -
What features did Samourai Wallet add to protect against dusting attacks?
They implement features that report suspicious transactions to their users.
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WOOOOW
- mostly to deanonymize users and connect their addresses to their wallets and to track where they are sending money so that it can be used against them in various ways
- as an example: by analysing the flow of money from/to your wallet (and by analysing the addresses and wallets that receive money from your wallet) the attacker can find out the exchange you are using (for example Binance), then send you some more dust with a malicious link in the memo to claim your “Binance bonus by clicking the link”
- both
- they implemented a system to flag dusting attacks and lock the funds so it can’t be used
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What is the goal of a dusting attack?
A dusting attack refers to a relatively new kind of malicious activity
where hackers and scammers try and break the privacy of Bitcoin and
cryptocurrency users by sending tiny amounts of coins to their wallets.
The transactional activity of these wallets is then tracked down by the
attackers, who perform a combined analysis of different addresses to
deanonymize the person or company behind each wallet.
If a dusting attack is successful, how is the victim at risk?
The attackers may use this knowledge against their targets, either through
elaborated phishing attacks or cyber-extortion threats.
Do dusting attacks work for type-1 HD wallets, type-2, or both?
Both as the attack is at the blockchain level, not in the wallet.
What features did Samourai Wallet add to protect against dusting attacks?
The Samourai Wallet team implemented a real-time alert for dust tracking as
well as a “Do Not Spend” feature that lets users mark suspicious funds, so
these are not included in future transactions.
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The goal of dusting attacks is to break the privacy of various wallets and find addresses that are connected to them.
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The victim could be at risk from a successful dusting attack by phishing scams or cyber-extortion.
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The user can potentially connect the identity of different addresses which have been dusted, regardless of whether they are using a type-1 or type-2 wallets.
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The Samourai Wallet added alerts for suspicious transfers which could possibly be the result of dust attacks, and the ability for the users to flag dust as “do not spend” which prevents it from being used.
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1. What is the goal of a dusting attack?
To send tiny satoshi transactions to many random wallets as a means of trying to deanonymize the people those wallets belong to.
2. If a dusting attack is successful, how is the victim at risk?
The victim can be subject to phishing scams or cyber extortion threats especially if linked to some business.
3. Do dusting attacks work for type-1 HD wallets, type-2, or both?
Both, since it’s possible to expose the identity of the individuals
4. What features did Samourai Wallet add to protect against dusting attacks?
They implemented a real-time alert for dust tracking and a ‘Do not spend’ feature that lets users mark suspicious funds in order to discard them from future transactions.
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- The goal is to deanonymize the holder’s identity of a particular address
- It can be tracked down
- no
- It has ‘Do not spend’ feature
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Its on both because once the user spends funds from different addresses, they can be linked. 
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What is the goal of a dusting attack?
The goal of a dusting attack is to send small amounts of crypto to many addresses to find a common link based on transaction activity. -
If a dusting attack is successful, how is the victim at risk?
A successfully identified victim could be subject to phishing attacks and extortion. -
Do dusting attacks work for type-1 HD wallets, type-2, or both?
Not if the coins are sent anywhere, as its the transaction data that’s revealing the link between addresses. -
What features did Samourai Wallet add to protect against dusting attacks?
Their wallet marks and suspends spending of suspect dust.
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Dust attacks are an attempt to compile multiple transactions to “link” them to one entity.
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They can trace back all transactions they have been involved in and in a sense “trap” them.
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Not necessarily unless each transaction is sent to a different address.
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Samurai wallets alert of dusting attacks, to prevent any connection to the “attacker”
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What is the goal of a dusting attack?
hackers and scammers try and break the privacy of [Bitcoin] -
If a dusting attack is successful, how is the victim at risk?
If successful, the attackers may use this knowledge against their targets, either through elaborated attacks or cyber-extortion threats. -
Do dusting attacks work for type-1 HD wallets, type-2, or both?
both -
What features did Samourai Wallet add to protect against dusting attacks?
The Samourai Wallet team implemented a real-time alert for dust tracking as well as a “Do Not Spend” feature that lets users mark suspicious funds, so these are not included in future transactions.
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The goal of dusting attack is to identify the owner of a certain wallet.
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If the dusting attack is successful the victim could will be hit with pushing attacks or extortion.
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Dusting attacks are possible on type 1 and type 2 HD wallets.
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The Samourai wallet has the stonewall feature to reduce linkability of transactions.
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A dusting attack is an attack in which a trace amount of cryptocurrency, called dust, is sent to a large number of wallet addresses with the purpose of “un-masking” or de-anonymizing the addresses.
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Through Phishing or extortion.
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Both.
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It gives the signal not to spend the feature.
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What is the goal of a dusting attack?
Sending small amount of a coin in order to analyse and follow a wallets activity -
If a dusting attack is successful, how is the victim at risk?
phishing attack or cyber-extortion threats. -
Do dusting attacks work for type-1 HD wallets, type-2, or both?
not specifically -
What features did Samourai Wallet add to protect against dusting attacks?
implemented a real-time alert for dust tracking as well as a “Do Not Spend” feature that lets users mark suspicious funds, so these are not included in future transactions.
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They work on both, it will link addresses once you spend these UTXOs just like any other wallet
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Dusting Attacks - Reading Assignment
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What is the goal of a dusting attack?
The goal is to track down transactional activity of these wallets by the attackers, who perform a combined analysis of different addresses to deanonymize the person or company behind each wallet.
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If a dusting attack is successful, how is the victim at risk?
If successful, the attackers may use this knowledge against their targets, either through elaborated phishing attacks or cyber-extortion threats.
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Do dusting attacks work for type-1 HD wallets, type-2, or both?
It is harder to complete dust attacks with these wallets.
If users are creating new addresses for every transactions. It will help users to protect their privacy.
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What features did Samourai Wallet add to protect against dusting attacks?
Samourai Wallet implemented a real-time alert for dust tracking as well as a “Do Not Spend” feature that lets users mark suspicious funds, so these are not included in future transactions.
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Not really, its kind of the same as using wallet.dat (generates new keys as well just non deterministically). The user can still be linked if he tries to spend UTXOs combined with addresses that have been compromised by a dusting attack.
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- What is the goal of a dusting attack?
Analyze blockchain transactions on the public blockchains to reveal or de-anonymize users; identify which wallets are associated with your associates or one’s own other wallets and their respective addresses
- If a dusting attack is successful, how is the victim at risk?
Revealing one’s self to phishing hackers, extortion.
- Do dusting attacks work for type-1 HD wallets, type-2, or both?
Yes, if the funds are spent, your done!! Always create new addresses for all transactions and don’t spend the dust
- What features did Samourai Wallet add to protect against dusting attacks?
Real-time alert for dust tracking plus a “Do Not Spend” for users to mark rogue funds, to be excluded from all future transactions. If not moved, no connections can be made, to and among your other wallets or inadvertent associates, by some degree of separation, to you and their dubious past.
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