Crypto Crimes rise to Over $4 Billion in 2019 up from $1.7 Billion In All Of 2018

2019 is shaping up as the year of the “exit scam” according to a new study from CipherTrace, a cryptocurrency intelligence firm based in Silicon Valley. According to the company’s latest Q2 2019 Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering (AML) report, which provides an overview of the major cryptocurrency thefts, scams, and fraud worldwide, criminals and fraudsters netted …

Opportunistic hackers demand Bitcoin ransom after deleting files from Iomega network drives

Nefarious hackers are wiping files on publicly accessible storage devices and leaving just a Bitcoin ransom note behind. According to users on the BleepingComputer forums, files on their Lenovo Iomega NAS (network attached storage) devices are allegedly being deleted or hidden. The attackers are demanding Bitcoin in exchange for the safe return of victims’ files. …

Bitcoin Price Drops $1.8K in 15 Minutes after Crypto exchange Coinbase brief outage

Crypto exchange Coinbase experienced a brief outage Wednesday afternoon, with both its website and API rendered temporarily inaccessible, as the price of bitcoin dropped more than $1,700 in the span of 15 minutes. According to Coinbase’s status page, the exchange reported major outages across its website, mobile apps and API, though its internal systems appeared to be …

$1 million may have been stolen from the Ethereum Classic blockchain in a “51%” hack attack

An attack on the Ethereum Classic blockchain may have helped hackers steal around $1.1 million worth of the currency from other users, according to popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. Ethereum what? Ethereum Classic is the original Ethereum blockchain. In 2016, to counter another, different kind of attack, Ethereum’s developers created a new version of the transaction history that returned …

IBM and Maersk launch blockchain to cut shipping time and costs

Cargo shipping giant Maersk and IBM today announced TradeLens, a technology that applies blockchain to the global supply chain. TradeLens takes advantage of blockchain, the decentralized public ledger behind such tech as cryptocurrency — to enable global trade to be more efficient and secure. More than 94 companies and organizations are supporting the project in …

Cryptomining Is Overtaking Ransomware as Most Popular Cybercrime Malware

Skybox® Security, a global leader in cybersecurity management, announced today the release of its mid-year update to the Vulnerability and Threat Trends Report which analyzes vulnerabilities, exploits and threats in play. The report, compiled by the team of security analysts at the Skybox® Research Lab, aims to help organizations align their security strategy with the reality …

EU police seize $5.2M cryptocurrency in largest dark web drug bust in history

he European Union authorities conducted a drug raid against dark web sellers seizing $5.2 million worth of cryptocurrencies, Fortune reports. The authorities seized 800,000 LSD blotters, €3.3 million ($3.85 million) in fiat and real estate property, and 10 luxury vehicles in addition to the cryptocurrencies. The dealers purportedly sold drugs in over 100 countries. Authorities suspect …

SCAM or NOT? Study claims Bitcoin’s meteoric price spike was caused by massive ‘market manipulation’

In a new paper, titled ‘Is Bitcoin Really Un-Tethered?’, University of Texas finance professor John Griffin, and graduate student Amin Shams, look at how Bitcoin’s price may have been artificially inflated last year. Bitcoins incredible rise in value in the last 12 months has been down to massive market manipulation, a new study has revealed. During …

Apple bans cryptocurrency mining on iPhone

Phone maker Apple has updated its developer guidelines to explicitly ban “mining” cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. The new rules restrict apps that drain battery, generate excessive heat, or put unnecessary strain on device resources — all of which take place in bitcoin mining. “Apps, including any third party advertisements displayed within them, may not run unrelated …