Cybersecurity researchers have detected what they believe to be the first ever stealth crypto mining campaign to steal Amazon Web Services (AWS) credentials. The mining campaign was described as being relatively unsophisticated by Cado Security in their report on Aug. 17. In total, it seems so far to have only resulted in the attackers — who operate under the name TeamTNT — pocketing a paltry $300 in illicit profits. What struck the researchers’ attention was the crypto-mining worm’s specific functionality for stealing AWS credentials. Cado Security understands this as part of a wider trend, showing that hackers and attackers are …

A major financial watchdog in Russia is developing a new cryptocurrency analytics tool to trace major cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC) and privacy coins. Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service, a federal service combating money laundering and terrorist financing, is reportedly planning to build a new analytics platform for tracking cryptocurrency transactions via artificial intelligence. Dubbed “Transparent Blockchain,” the new system is designed to track the movement of digital financial assets and identify crypto service providers to fight illicit activity related to digital assets, local news agency RBC reported on Aug. 10. According to the report, the new system is able to …

United States markets have rallied sharply from their March lows, led by the tech sector and Federal Reserve injections designed to hold up the ailing economy. Markets across the globe have also joined the party as a steady economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic picks up steam. The fast-paced rally in global stock markets has pushed the Buffett Indicator into bubble territory, which suggests that markets might be overheated in the short term. Similarly, gold has seen a sharp rally in 2020, and last week the asset reached a new lifetime high. Silver also followed suit and is trading near …

August 6, Monero (XMR) has experienced its biggest increase in hashrate since the network’s creation in 2014. Monero hashrate. Source: Coin Metrics. The Monero hashrate increased from 1.67 GH/s on August 5 to 2.2 GH/s on August 6. That 0.52 GH/s single day gain is the highest in the project’s history. Prior to this, most significant daily percentage gains came in the project’s early days when the base was much smaller. Banks should embrace privacy coins to protect their clients On August 3, Coin Center submitted comments to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on National Bank and …

A group of hackers associated with the North Korean regime have kept their crypto extortion efforts alive in 2020. A group of North Korean hackers operating under the name “Lazarus” targeted several crypto exchanges last year, according to a report published by Chainalysis. One of the attacks involved the creation of a fake trading bot which was offered to employees of the DragonEx exchange. Findings show that in March 2019, the hackers stole approximately $7 million in various cryptocurrencies from the Singapore-based exchange. Cybersecurity vendor Cyfirma warned in June about a massive crypto phishing campaign that could be launched by …

Brian Armstrong says Coinbase won’t be listing privacy coins like Monero (XMR) as they’re still untested grounds for regulators in the United States. In a July 24 interview with Peter McCormack on his “What Bitcoin Did” podcast, Armstrong said he wanted to take a more conservative approach with Coinbase so the exchange would pass the test of time. One of these issues was avoiding direct confrontation about privacy coins including Monero. Armstrong told McCormack, who referred to Monero as “the most credible privacy coin,” that as privacy coins become more accepted, Coinbase’s team would consider listing them: “I think with …

The total crypto market capitalization has reached $300 billion for the first time since mid-February, which is a huge positive as it suggests increased investor interest in cryptocurrencies. The interest has largely been in smaller altcoins with Bitcoin (BTC) taking a back seat until early this morning. Even Ether (ETH) recently joined the altseason party and once it broke out of its resistance the price skyrocketed higher. This could have resulted in a missed opportunity for several traders who did not buy on the breakout. Now, traders are likely to expect a similar move from the top-ranked cryptocurrency on CoinMarketCap …

It’s been a good week for Bitcoin. The dollar price is up more than 3 percent to around $9,500. That $10,000 ceiling is looking more fragile than ever. One sign that the ceiling may be about to break is the decline in Google searches for “Bitcoin.” According to Google Trends, search interest is the lowest since December 2019. Last time search interest fell by such a degree, the price climbed around 50 percent. One coin in which interest is running high—and putting up prices—is pennies. A slowdown in coin production caused by the coronavirus has led to a shortage of …

The threat intelligence team at Cisco Systems discovered a new cryptojacking botnet named “Prometei.” This botnet both mines Monero (XMR) and steals data from the targeted system. According to the paper sent to Cointelegraph, the botnet has been active since May. It relies on 15 executable modules to recover administrator passwords from the infected computer. Password validity is verified by sending them to a control server connected to other networks. Once the malware has obtained access to the user’s administrative rights, it proceeds to record all data contained within the system. Cisco Talos estimates this botnet may contain up to …

Telecom, Argentina's largest telecommunications company, has fallen victim to a ransomware attack. Hackers are demanding $7.5 million in Monero (XMR) — an amount that will rise to $15 million if the company does not pay within 48 hours. Argentina's major telephone company, Telecom, just got hacked. Hackers requesting a ransom of $7.5 million in Monero. $XMR pic.twitter.com/AGNvAXh1cg — Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) July 19, 2020 According to El Tribuno, the ransomware attack, which specifically affected Telecom’s call center, took place on July 18. The ransomware was ultimately contained by the Argentinian conglomerate’s IT workers. In a statement issued to local media …

The MGM Resort suffered a massive data breach in 2019 that left 142 million hotel guests exposed. A hacker is now selling the stolen database for roughly $2,900. According to the information revealed by ZDNet, a dark web marketplace claims that data from 142,479,937 MGM hotel guests are on sale. Preferred payment is denominated in Bitcoin (BTC) and Monero (XMR). MGM Resorts confirmed the data breach, stating that they’re aware of the scope of this previously reported incident from 2019. No financial data was leaked However, according to the research, the cybercriminal did not leak any sensitive data from the …

Bitcoin educator Andreas Antonopoulos says he would like to see more privacy features on Bitcoin, but they’re unlikely to happen anytime soon. In a livestream Q&A on Antonopoulos’ YouTube channel on July 7, he said Bitcoin (BTC) was unlikely to ever implement privacy features similar to those used by Monero (XMR). Antonopoulos said creating such features on a cryptocurrency like BTC “would create an enormous amount of controversy.” In addition, he said the structure of Bitcoin simply doesn’t allow ring signatures and stealth addresses. “I think what we’re going to see soon is Schnorr, Taproot, and Tapscript, which open the …