According to The Detroit News and the Associated Press a city database was hit by ransomware this past April. According to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan a ransom of 2,000 BTC was requested in order to restore access to the affected database. He also reported the ransom was not paid as the database was apparently not that important. This was revealed at the North American International Cyber Summit at Cobo Center. At the summit the Mayor also presented something else as problematic. Continue reading
Category Archives: News
Imperial College Hosts Bitcoin Technology Competition for Students
The Business School of Imperial College in London is hosting a competition for students to compete on developing "new forms of Bitcoin technology." The projects will count as course credit and cash awards of up to £3,000 are available, with grants up to £500 available for equipment expenses. The Imperial College press release seems to emphasize the idea of "Blockchain Technology" rather than Bitcoin itself, but it remains to be seen what form the actual student projects will take.
ISIS Introduces Coins
There are reports that the Islamic State has announced the introduction of a new trimetal monetary system, which they claim is based on the ancient dinar. The original dinar of course was a rebadging of the Byzantine δηνάριον by early Islamic rulers. The new ISIS currency consists of seven coins of which two are gold, three are silver, and two are copper. According to the Brookings Institute the coins are inscribed with a version of the message "The Islamic State: A Caliphate in Accordance with the Prophetic Method" reflecting the Islamic State's declaration of a Caliphate back in June. Continue reading
Ethereum's Contract Language Implemented On The Bitcoin Blockchain With Counterparty
Counterparty announced in a press release that they successfully implemented Ethereum's "smart contract" scripting language on the Blockchain. The press release stated: Continue reading
Bitcoin Prices Cross $430
Earlier today Bitcoin prices as reported by Gribble passed $400 per single Bitcoin and as of publication continue their upward trend.
Internet Service Providers Stripping STARTTLS Flag
According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation a number of Internet Service Providers are stripping the STARTTLS flag from their customer's email sessions. STARTTLS is a protocol that encrypts emails between origin and destination servers, but leaves the plaintext contents of email completely accessible on the servers. The property of STARTTLS which allows ISPs to deny their customers to use it is explicitly baked into the protocol. Continue reading
USPS Hacked: Every Employee's Personal Information Compromised
The Washington Post reports that a security breech at the United States Postal Service has compromised the personal information of all persons employed by the service. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe the United States Postal Service has not yet seen any evidence the compromised data is being misused.
Florida Man Arrested for Online Drug Trading
The Tampa Bay times reports that Florida Man, Ronald Delaet, allegedly bought drugs from the Internet and resold them. Law Enforcement reportedly found "hundreds" of postal receipts and was able to intercept 5 packages in transit. The local paper's report singles out allegations by police that he sold a bottle of fentanyl nasal solution to a 17 year old who is supposed to have told his mom he planned on using it to overdose. Given the early involvement of Law Enforcement in developing SilkRoad 2.o it is likely that reports of similar arrests will continue for some time.
National Bank of Ukraine: Bitcoin Not to Be Used for Payments
There are reports that the National Bank of Ukraine has issued a directive on its Facebook page banning not recognizing the use of Bitcoin for payments within the country. It remains to be seen if other States will begin following Ukraine's lead and begin issuing missives via Facebook post, as well as to what extent the National Bank of Ukraine can actually prevent Bitcoin payments from happening within their borders during a time where Ukrainian borders seem to be undergoing revision.
Hashfast to Liquidate
The Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of California has ordered the auction of HashFast assets, and among the assets to be sold will be causes and claims against co-founder and CTO of Hashfast Simon Barber.