Earlier this week Romanian Bitcoin exchange btcXchange.ro issued an advisory that customers withdraw both Bitcoin and Leu denominated funds from their platform by today, December 19th. Today they issued a further advisory that issues on their platform are related to an ongoing dispute between that platform's management and their developer. Continue reading
Category Archives: News
Lawsky Walks Back From Original Bitlicense
There are reports that Ben Lawsky of the New York Department of Financial Services is walking back from this original Bitlicense proposal which would have effectively excised New York State from the world of Bitcoin, while still advancing a weaker version of the proposal which would have a similar effect. The rumors that he is offering a weaker version are based upon the contents of a speech he delivered today, though the actual text of his regulatory proposal is still unavailable.
Sony Cancels Movie Under Duress
After a deluge of leaks and a single anonymous threat in the wake of Sony's hacking by a group calling itself the Guardians of Peace, numerous Theater Chains and Sony Pictures have canceled the release of the comedy film The Interview. There are reports that tomorrow Federal Investigators in the United States will hold a press conference where they will present allegations which point to North Korea as a State actor having been behind the hacking, leaking, and threats aimed at Sony Pictures entertainment. An analysis of some of the malware implicated in the attack suggests a substantially lower level of sophistication and talent went into this effort than is usually associated with state level actors.
A scene from the canceled movie in which what appears to be a tank shell strikes Kim Jung Un's helicopter, immolates him, and causes his head to explode is available on Youtube at present and has been embedded below: Continue reading
Too Many People Pay Ransomware Demands
A recent report by ESET security suggests that the TorrentLocker ransomware enjoys a 1.44% rate of success in converting victims into ransom payments. This discouraging figure suggest that there are still far too many people subsidizing this phenomenon. As noted in the guide to protecting yourself from ransomware, paying ransoms only encourages the continuation of this activity. Don't be like the Sheriff's department that admits it paid to subsidize criminal activity.
Spanish CyberSquat Raided in 'Counter-Terrorism' Operation
There are report that Kasa de la Muntanya has been raided by Spanish police for its connections to Anarchist activity in an operation that has been described as being "Counter-Terrorism" in nature. At least 11 people have been arrested. Kasa de la Muntanya had in the past been profiled by the BBC as being a 'Cyber Squat' and has been described by Julia Tourianski on Twitter as a place that housed several families. An online profile describes Kasa de la Muntanya as a social center which has been occupied since 1989. Continue reading
Dying Media Company Seeks Lifeline With Bitcoin
Time Inc, formerly a part of Time Warner and independent before that, has announced it is going to accept Bitcoin in exchange for magazine subscriptions. A building from an earlier, happier part of Time Inc.'s history was recently the site where Vitalik Buterin won an award of some sort.
Vice Fingers Alleged Silk Road 2.0 Mole Account
Vice Motherboard is alleging that the account used by the FBI inflitrator into the Silk Road 2.0 was named 'Cirrus', and that the user had notably at one point been a staff member of the original Silk Road. This conclusion was reached through a process of elimination. Vice also reports that some people involved in Darknet markets had suspicions about this user for some time.
Judge Rejects Florida Man's Bid to Dismiss Case
Florida Judge Fleur Lobree dismissed Pascal Reed's motion to drop illegal money transfer charges in an case relating to him selling roughly $25,000 worth of Bitcoin to a Secret Service agent in a sting last winter. Reed's lawyer argued that as merely a token of value applying Florida's money transmission laws to individuals as opposed to corporations would set a horrifying precedent:
"The statute was intended for the exchange of money for money, If you extend it to anything of value, then any customer using a credit card to buy something, anyone holding a yard sale and accepting cash, is a money transferer."
According to Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle two other people were arrested as a result of this sting targeting "individuals engaged in high volume Bitcoin activity."
Silbert Syndicate Wins 48,000 BTC at auction
Barry Silbert has self disclosed on twitter that his bidding syndicate has won 48,000 BTC in the recent United States Marshal's Service auction. Tim Draper had earlier announced winning the other 2000 BTC up for bidding. Silbert's tweet:
Barry Silbert Announcement: Pleased to share that the syndicate organized by
@BitcoinTrust & our trading division won 48k bitcoin auctioned by US Marshals
Blockchain.info Discloses Vulnerability Window
On their blog, Blockchain.info has disclosed that a routine update left them serving insecure code to customers using their wallet between 12:00 AM and 2:30 AM GMT today. All customers who used the Blockchain.info web wallet to interface to create wallets, generate addresses, or send transactions are reported to be affected. The problem given the scope appears to be that Blockchain.info was serving weak pseudo-random number generating software.