ETC is facing delisting from OKEx in the wake of a 51% attack that cost the exchange $5.6 million. According to a report recently released by OKEx, the perpetrators registered five accounts between June 26 and July 9, 2020, subsequently depositing 68,230.02 ZEC (worth more than $5 million) on their platform. On July 31, the attackers exchanged their ZEC holdings for 807,260 ETC and withdrew it from the exchange. The on-chain process of the initial 51% attack on Aug. 1. Source: community enthusiasts On the same day, the attackers began creating a “shadow chain” using their newly acquired hashrate. At …

According to recently published research, an attacker has found vulnerabilities in the Tor browser network that might have allowed them to steal Bitcoin (BTC) from users. Tor was developed by the U.S. government for anonymous internet communication and has since been adopted by privacy advocates. Because of its privacy-preserving features, it is also popular with the denizens of the Dark Web. Many in the crypto community rely on Tor, entrusting their Bitcoin transactions to its security and anonymity. Confirmed malicious Tor exit capacity controlled by a malicious player. Source: nusenu. However, according to nusenu, who discovered this attack, this might …

A judge has sentenced Australian citizen Kathryn Nguyen to a maximum time of 2 years and 3 months in prison for her role in stealing more than 100,000 XRP tokens in January 2018. According to an Aug. 11 report in Australian publication Information Age, Nguyen was sentenced over the theft of more than $300,000 in XRP two years ago. She was initially charged in Oct. 2018 and pled guilty to fraud charges the following August. Chris Craigie, the judge presiding over Nguyen’s case, said it was a “difficult and troubling decision” to send her to prison. The Australian national will …

Researchers at the Black Hat security conference revealed that crypto exchanges might be vulnerable to hackers. Although crypto exchanges have high privacy and security to protect their funds, researchers still found three ways hackers can attack these crypto exchanges, according to Wired on August 9. The crypto exchange attacks were operating more like “an old-timey bank vault with six keys that all have to turn at the same time,” the report said. Cryptocurrency private keys were broken into smaller pieces. It means an attacker has to find them together before stealing funds. Aumasson, a cryptographer, and Omer Shlomovits, cofounder of …

Facial recognition can help prevent future Bitcoin (BTC) scams like those that hit Twitter and YouTube, said Rod Hsu, president and co-founder of virtual currency platform Coincurve. During an interview with Cointelegraph, Hsu said Bitcoin is an electronic form of currency that is non-reversible and somewhat anonymous, “coupled with this gap in understanding makes it appealing for scam artists.” But because of the negative publicity the cryptocurrency got with the scams, it may have discouraged many from adopting it. “Due to the nature of this, people may see scams and Bitcoin being synonymous. In either traditional payment methods or Bitcoin, …

Another good week for Bitcoin last week. The dollar price rose more than 5 percent, taking it to around $11,700. That rise wasn’t smooth. A flash crash took $1,500 off the price at one point, although investors remain bullish and the VIX volatility index, which is based on the S&P 500, is “extremely bullish.” Other volatility measures, though, suggest another drop to $10,000 before a new rally, while the Winklevoss twins think that the amount of infrastructure and capital in the crypto markets will make this bull run very different from the 2017 run. It’s not just Bitcoin that’s been …

Year after year, the ransomware landscape changes dramatically. In 2019, a new resurgence of attacks occurred as businesses and government institutions became the main targets of ransomware, given their capacity to yield larger payouts. The most recent attack was against Garmin, a navigation systems company, on July 23. Due to the attack, many of its online services such as customer support, website functions and company communications were affected. Reportedly, the Russian cybergang Evil Corp launched the attack, demanding $10 million in cryptocurrency to restore access to Garmin’s services. Overall, according to a report by anti-malware software firm Malwarebytes, there was …

North Korea-based cybercriminals are suspected to be using untraceable alternative cryptocurrencies, or altcoins, to convert stolen funds into cash. According to an NK News report, an unpublished United Nations Panel of Experts report states that North Korea-backed hackers have stolen approximately $1.5 billion in cryptocurrencies and they were converting a portion of that amount into cash. Using altcoins, mixers and loosely regulated exchanges The hackers deliberately transact using privacy-focused altcoins as they are hard to trace and track, moving the stolen assets to loosely regulated cryptocurrency exchanges that have minimal customer identification requirements. The U.N. experts reportedly state that the …

The teen behind July's massive Twitter breach had a digital courtroom hearing on Aug. 5. The trial was postponed, however, due to a highly irregular breach in the hearing's Zoom call. During a "Zoom bombing," infiltrators "broke into the call to interrupt the proceedings," said the Tampa Bay Times on Aug. 5. "Posing as CNN and BBC News, they repeatedly interrupted the meeting with rap music, movie dialogue and shouting," the outlet added. The perpetrators then proceeded to project pornographic materials onto viewer's computers. The Florida judge on the case dismissed the hearing. The alleged hacker pleaded a lesser bail …

A recent 51% attack that impacted Ethereum Classic (ETC) is believed to have resulted in approximately $5.6 million worth of the cryptocurrency being double-spent. A report published by Aleksey Studnev of blockchain forensics firm Bitquery on August 5 has revealed the extent of the incident, with Bitquery estimating that the attacker made off with 807,260 ETC. The report estimates the hacker reaped more than a 2,800% return for his efforts, having spent roughly 17.5 Bitcoins (BTC) worth $192,000 on renting hash power from Nicehash to execute the attack. The report contradicts initial theories suggesting that the blockchain reorganization may not …

Scott Melker, also known as the "Wolf of All Streets," says he was the victim of a SIM swap attack in February but managed to avoid losing any crypto assets. In a Aug. 4 post on Melker’s website titled Security Tips And Lessons Learned From My Hack, the trader said he was able to protect access to his bank accounts, credit cards, and crypto exchanges after a hacker assumed his identity by tricking his phone carrier and diverted Melker’s communications to the hacker’s phone. According to Melker, the hacker had access to his number and text messages — which would …

Multinational tech company Garmin may have paid some or all of a $10 million crypto ransom to hackers who managed to encrypt the firm’s internal network and take down several of its services on July 23. According to an August 1 report from Lawrence Abrams at Bleeping Computer, Garmin’s IT department used a decryptor to regain access to workstations affected by the initial WastedLocker ransomware attack. The malware took down the company’s customer support, navigation solutions, and other online services. The news outlet reported that the existence of such a protocol means “Garmin must have paid the ransom to the …