Re:FTX to file for U.S. bankruptcy, CEO resigns
by everfree on Saturday November 12, 2022 @01:47PM
(#33575809)
I believe that's true - if you can get ahold of someone's private keys, you have free access not only to their money but also to their money's transaction history. The security and anonymity of the system is predicated on the person wanting to be anonymous being able to keep their private keys private.
However, private keys are easy to strongly encrypt, typically don't leave your own machine, and can be safeguarded in many other ways. So in practice, they are impossible to lift from a sophisticated user without performing an equally sophisticated attack of deception, for example an evil maid attack with specialized hardware/software.
It did seem though that some targeted attacks where you obtain the private keys of separate individuals could allow you to confirm that they transacted via Monero in the past by inspecting the block chain with these keys.