The US Used the Patriot Act to Justify Logging Website Users
Plus: Better Twitter two-factor, a Spotify hack, and more of the week’s top security news. Powered by...
Black Shadow Hackers Demand 200 BTC Ransom from Israeli Insurance Giant Shirbit
One of the largest insurance companies in Israel has been hit by a ransomware attack, and the threat actors started to release sensitive data, as the firm doesn’t pay the requested ransom in bitcoin (BTC). Israel-Based Shirbit Still Refuses to Pay $3.8 Million Ransom According to The Jerusalem Post, the Black Shadow group is the mastermind of the ransomware deployed on the IT infrastructure of Shirbit on December 1, 2020, who...
US Representatives Add Digital Currencies to the 2021 Defense Bill
The United States government is preparing to pass the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the latest bill includes a broad definition of currencies and includes “digital currencies.” However, after more than 50 NDAA bills passed, President Donald Trump plans to veto the act which is expected to authorize more than $740.5 billion. U.S. Congress members are expected to complete the National Defense Authorization Act...
Trading Exchange Okex’s Crypto Reserves Nosedived After Withdrawals Opened
Just recently, after the exchange paused cryptocurrency withdrawals, the trading platform Okex finally enabled digital currency withdrawals last Wednesday. Since then, the exchange seems to be experiencing an exodus of funds leaving, as onchain data shows Okex’s crypto-asset reserves like bitcoin, ethereum and tether have depleted considerably during the last ten days. Over the years a number of exchanges have had issues and have...
Testnet of Facebook’s Much Vaunted Stablecoin Only Executes 6 Transactions per Second
The Facebook fronted stablecoin, Diem (formerly Libra)’s dismal testnet results undercut the assertion that the digital currency is a threat to global financial stability. This is the conclusion that can be deduced from a Diem blockchain explorer update which shows the network only processes an average of six transactions per second (tps), with the highest reported figure of 24 tps. The testnet for Diem has been live for more than 43...
