Today wounded Bitcoin exchange Bitstamp resumed operations and moved to moved infrastructure into San Francisco. In a letter posted on the exchanges's website CEO Nejc Kodrič describes the new Bitstamp is build in a way that seems a bit contradictory: Continue reading
Category Archives: Security
BitStamp Wallet Now Officially "Hacked"
A total of 18,867.62695929 BTC were moved from BitStamp's hot wallet to a wallet that is outside of their control. A statement attributed to Nejc Kodrič appears on Coindesk which differs from the one available on Bitstamp's own site. The Statement attributed to Nejc Kodrič on CoinDesk: Continue reading
The Bitcoin Network Regains Positive Momentum As It Enters 2015.
Despite two consecutive drops in the Bitcoin mining difficulty this month, the network is set to see out 2014 and enter 2015 with renewed growth in the hash rate. Continue reading
Collected Points From the NSA's Recent Document Dump
Numerous media outlets are going deep into the NSA's recent Christmas Eve document dump while Der Spiegel is supposing itself to cover new Snowden documents.In addition to the unsurprising post-Snowden revelation that NSA analysts routinely acted outside of their legal ability to monitor, a number of technical revelations came out about the NSA's surveillance abilities as they care to disclose them two years ago. As this document dump was an official agency disclosure take it with a grain of salt or several trucks full of salt as you feel necessary. Continue reading
Extortionist Tormented Finney's Last Months
Today Wired published a piece about the struggles of Hal Finney's family at the hands of an extortionist during the last months of his life. Reportedly Hal's wife Fran had not come forward publicly before out of fear that doing so could endanger the investigation, she is speaking publicly now with the blessing of the investigating agent. Among harassing phone calls was an instance of Swatting that forced the Finneys into the yard last winter. The extortionist was seeking 1000 BTC from Hal Finney.
Coinbase Tracing User Transactions
Coinbase has been banning user accounts that send Bitcoin to gambling sites, such as Satoshi Dice or Seals With Clubs. Earlier today a reddit user made a post stating Coinbase banned his account for allegedly purchasing cannabis products with coins purchased from the service. The user provided screenshots of email correspondence with the Coinbase support team, which states the remaining coins in the user's wallet may be withdrawn, but will not be able to utilize the purchase or selling services Coinbase provides. Continue reading
Sony Now to Release Movie
The movie The Interview whose release was canceled under duress, is now being released. Once again some measure of coercion is likely involved.
GCHQ Says Its Surveillance Ability is Crippled Post-Snowden
According to the Telegraph the British Intelligence gathering agency Global Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, is warning people that it apparently can no longer effectively track people they refer to as "some of the world's most dangerous crime lords." Problems they claim to face in the post-Snowden age include people taking better operational security measures to avoid surveillance as well as a fear on their part to engage in many of the kinds of surveillance that have been revealed because they might be discovered. They also report that cooperation from communications companies has become problematic in smuggling and fraud cases as the companies insist requests concern matters that involve “direct threat to life” now. Continue reading
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.