Bitcoin is spreading as the official currency of the world wide web. The way it works is simple: you buy / sell goods exclusively via the Web, using just the Bitcoin, which is converted into real money (and vice versa) in special exchange sites, i.e. Mtgox and Bitstamp etc.

Earlier this month Bitcoin was traded at all time high $263 for each bitcoin. Here comes the hackers, the largest bitcoin exchange MT.Gox announced a temporary suspension of trading in virtual currency Bitcoin after its price fell a day by 50%, from 260 to 130 dollars for one bitcoin due to a planned DDoS by hackers.

Last year, the Bitcoinica exchange was hacked twice, hackers managed to steal more than 60,000 bitcoins. Four men have sued Bitcoinica, alleging that the exchange owes them $460,457.70 in lost deposits plus damages.

Bitfloor company’s founder also reported last September, that someone had compromised his servers and made off with about 24,000 Bitcoins, worth almost a quarter-million dollars.

Hackers have already successfully launched code floating all over the internet, infecting less protected computers which are thereby enslaved into mining bitcoins for the hackers. Experts over “Kaspersky Lab” found two malicious campaign gaining momentum in Skype: in both cases the attackers lure users to click on a malicious link to social engineering techniques, promising an interesting photo or video content. Once a user hits the link, a virus automatically install a software to generate virtual currency Bitcoin.

Needless to say, the motive of the hackers is not to destroy the network, but to make dishonest profit from it. Bitcoin is decentralized in nature and no monetary organization keeps control over transactions. Thus, Bitcoin is a real “sweet spot” for cybercriminals to make them quick money.

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