Coinbase Report Affirms ‘Killing Ethereum’ will Be Challenging

The DeFi ‘food farming’ frenzy this past Summer took its toll on the Ethereum network in terms of demand. As a result, a slew of rival platforms emerged and a new report from Coinbase has taken a deep dive into some of them. In its latest report in the ‘Round the Block’ series titled “ETH Killers and New Chains” published on Dec. 12, the U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase has taken a closer look at rising competitors to Ethereum in the smart contract space. A number of new DeFi-focused blockchains have

Ransomware Attacks Demanding Crypto Are Unfortunately Here to Stay

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

Blockchain Intelligence Firm Chainalysis Seeks New Partners to Extend Its Reach

New York-based blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis is launching a major partnership program to expand its operations and broaden its intelligence capabilities.As one of the highest-profile analytics firms in the blockchain intelligence industry, Chainalysis develops investigative tools that enable firms, governments and law enforcement agencies to monitor blockchain transactions and track suspected illicit activities.Speaking to Cointelegraph on April 9, Chainalysis chief revenue officer Jason Bonds explained that the program would be dedicated to collaborations with several categories of partners.The first, key crypto infrastructure providers, will help Chainalysis and the wider industry

BitMEX Operator Gives $400K Sponsorship to Cybersecurity Nonprofit

HDR Global Trading, the operator of crypto exchange BitMEX, is giving a $400,000 grant to the cybersecurity nonprofit Shadowserver Foundation.In an April 6 statement on the company’s blog, HDR Global Trading announced that it would offer $400,000 to the organization over the next four years. The BitMEX operator will be acting as a member of the nonprofit’s new industry alliance for Internet security.Richard Perlotto, Shadowserver Director, thanked HDR for “their rapid response to our call for help” and emphasized the organization’s commitment to fighting cybercrime. The director is referring to

Ethereum Creator Picks Two Worst Bull and Bear BTC Predictions Ever Made

As the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC) is highly volatile, once surging from $1,000 to $20,000 in the span of just over a year. The coin has become the subject of infinite price predictions. Both optimistic and negative, some of these predictions have turned out to be extremely inaccurate.Vitalik Buterin, the well-known co-creator of the Ethereum network and its native cryptocurrency Ether (ETH), highlighted the two worst Bitcoin price predictions ever made since the digital currency was introduced back in 2009.In an April 6 tweet, Buterin emphasized that price predictions

Notable Dark Web Marketplace Bans All COVID-19 Vaccine Sale 

In a rare move that has perhaps never been seen before, a marketplace on the dark web has banned the sale of a self-proclaimed vaccine for the coronavirus pandemic. According to a tweet from noted tech author Eileen Ormsby, Monopoly Market, a popular platform on the dark web, has banned the sale of purported vaccines for the coronavirus for Bitcoin.Darknet market Monopoly has taken a more responsible approach to touting #COVID19 "cures" on their #darkweb site pic.twitter.com/uWFLx75deQ— Eileen Ormsby (@EileenOrmsby) April 1, 2020Honor Among Criminals As the tweet showed, the market’s administrator pointed

Researchers Detect Ambitious Bitcoin Mining Malware Campaign Targeting 1,000s Daily

Cybersecurity researchers have identified a persistent and ambitious campaign that targets thousands of Docker servers daily with a Bitcoin (BTC) miner.In a report published on April 3, Aqua Security issued a threat alert over the attack, which has ostensibly “been going on for months, with thousands of attempts taking place nearly on a daily basis.” The researchers warn: “These are the highest numbers we’ve seen in some time, far exceeding what we have witnessed to date.”Such scope and ambition indicate that the illicit Bitcoin mining campaign is unlikely to be “an

Darknet Market to Permanently Ban Vendors Preying on COVID-19 Fears

Dark web marketplace, Monopoly Market, has taken a stand against scammers claiming to sell cures and treatments for COVID-19 on its platform.On other darknet platforms, listings are rife with coronavirus keywords — with vendors selling everything from narcotic cocktails marketed as ‘coronavirus vaccines,’ to coronavirus-infected blood and saliva.Monopoly Market to ban vendors using coronavirus as ‘marketing tool’On April 2, dark web journalist, Eileen Ormsby, tweeted a screenshot posted by Monopoly Market’s operator that threatened permanent bans against vendors “caught flogging goods as a ‘cure’ to Coronavirus.”“We have class here,” the

Sophisticated Mining Botnet Identified After 2 Years

Cybersecurity firm, Guardicore Labs, revealed the identification of a malicious crypto-mining botnet that has been operating for nearly two years on April 1.The threat actor, dubbed ‘Vollgar’ based on its mining of the little-known altcoin, Vollar (VSD), targets Windows machines running MS-SQL servers — of which Guardicore estimates there are just 500,000 in existence worldwide.However, despite their scarcity, MS-SQL servers offer sizable processing power in addition to typically storing valuable information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details.Sophisticated crypto-mining malware network identifiedOnce a server is infected, Vollgar “diligently and

Beware! Scammers Are Out for Crypto Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic

As the world continues to battle with the deadly coronavirus pandemic, immoral cybercriminals are once again on the prowl. This time, they are using the chaos and fear through phishing techniques and sophisticated malware hacks to access people’s crypto holdings.On March 27, residents in the United Kingdom received warnings from their local councils “to be on their guard against a series of scams attempting to take advantage of the coronavirus outbreak.” Scammers have been using other tricks to lure victims, including the use of false Bitcoin (BTC) donation channels, fake