Cybercriminals earned $1.2 million in Bitcoin (BTC) through “sextortion” and bomb threat scams in the last 12 months, cybersecurity company Symantec reports on July 30. In sextortion scams, the scammers send victims emails that include an old password in the subject line, claiming the device is compromised. The message further states that the scammer is in possession of a photo or video of the victim looking at pornography websites, ostensibly obtained through a hacked webcam. In other cases, the author of the email claims to be a member of law enforcement who found child pornography on the receiver’s device. The …

U.S. software company Salesforce has won a patent to detect spam emails using blockchain technology. The patent filing was published on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website Tuesday, Nov. 4. Salesforce, which offer its customers is a cloud-based mailing platform, patented a solution that allows for the detection of whether an initial email was modified while being sent. In addition, the blockchain-driven program could help improve the existing filters that often fail to distinguish between spam and regular emails, such as promo letters. As explained in the technical part of the document, to assure the authenticity of the …