The Register: Man Hunts Insufficiently Random Nonces, Blockchain.info Wallets Vulnerable

According the The Register, Filippo Valsorda has released a tool which uncovers transactions that leak private keys on the Bitcoin blockchain. The tool is called Blockchainr and is available on Github. The attack highlighted is the same one which last year lead to the emptying of a number of wallets on the Android platform in which insufficiently random nonces in ECDSA signatures leave private keys solvable. Valsorda noted that the Blockchain.info wallet's dependency on the user's web browser to provide a random nonce leaves it vulnerable to this avenue of attack. Previously Valsorda released a tool which checks for vulnerability to the Heartbleed defect.

Vietnam: Prosecutors Reject Charging Bitcoin Traders

Thanh Nien News reports that three individuals arrested in Khanh Hoa Province for buying and selling Bitcoins have been released without charges on the order of local prosecutors. Police plan to continue pursuing the case by appealing to the Supreme People’s Procuracy to continue the prosecution. In the course of the arrest nearly 500 million Vietnamese Dong were seized along with computers and documents. According to the deputy head of the local prosecution unit "the three did not engage in an illegal transaction since Bitcoins are not a recognized currency or commodity in Vietnam and therefore cannot be considered a banned item."

Living Room of Satoshi Packs It In

Living Room of Satoshi, an Australian company which enabled users to pay BPAY enabled bills using Bitcoin, has shut its doors due to concerns regarding the recent Goods and Services Tax ruling from the Australian Tax Office. The company had only recently won "best pitch" at the Future of Payments conference held in Sydney, Australia on the 19th of September. Continue reading

Butterfly Labs Seek To Have FTC Complaint Dismissed

James Humphrey1, an attorney representing BFL in the case that the FTC brought forward last month, has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. He stated that for the state to argue for deceptive representations, the FTC would need to allege facts that established BFL made a representation that was material and likely to mislead customers.

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  1. Polsinelli PC.