Google Play Boots 3 Fake Bitcoin Wallet Apps

Google moved quickly to kick three fake bitcoin wallet apps from its Google Play marketplace earlier this month after researchers at mobile security firm Lookout discovered them. The apps pretended to be legitimate bitcoin wallets, but instead were fake. Apps were designed to trick sellers to...

A week in security (December 11 – December 17)

Last week we explained what fast flux is and how it's being abused, we showed you all kinds of Bitcoin-related scams, presented a video recording of a tech support scammer trying to sell free software, and pointed out some free software to keep an eye on your Internet traffic. We also informed yo...

Former Botmaster, ‘Darkode’ Founder is CTO of Hacked Bitcoin Mining Firm ‘NiceHash’

On Dec. 6, 2017, approximately USD $52 million worth of Bitcoin mysteriously disappeared from the coffers of NiceHash, a Slovenian company that lets users sell their computing power to help others mine virtual currencies. As the investigation into the heist nears the end of its second week, many...

There’s a hole in my bucket: Bitcoin scams aim to exploit volatile market

Bitcoin! Black gold! Texas tea! Only one of these is currently worth ridiculous amounts of money and technically numbers two and three are the same thing. Whether you're in possession of lots of Bitcoins, or in full bandwagon panic "must buy 20 graphics cards before the bubble bursts" mode, you...

New Spider Ransomware Comes With 96-Hour Deadline

A new ransomware strain called Spider is targeting victims located in the Balkans in what is called a “mid-scale” campaign. The Spider ransomware is unique in that attackers are given a 96-hour deadline to pay. Attackers also attempt to calm victims, assuring them the ransom payment and file...

A week in security (December 04 – December 10)

Last week on the blog, we looked at a RIG EK malware campaign, explored how children are being tangled up in money mule antics, took a walk through the world of Blockchain, and gave a rundown of what's involved when securing web applications. We also laid out the trials and tribulations of the...

How cryptocurrency mining works: Bitcoin vs. Monero

Ever wondered why websites that are mining in the background don’t mine for the immensely hot Bitcoin, but for Monero instead? We can explain that. As there are different types of cryptocurrencies, there are also different types of mining. After providing you with some background information abou...

Largest Crypto-Mining Exchange Hacked; Over $70 Million in Bitcoin Stolen

Bitcoin is breaking every record—after gaining 20% jump last week, Bitcoin price just crossed the $14,800 mark in less than 24 hours—and there can be no better reason for hackers to put all of their efforts to steal skyrocketing cryptocurrency. NiceHash, the largest Bitcoin mining marketplace, ha...

Q3 2017 Global DDoS Threat Landscape Report

Today we are releasing our latest Global DDoS Threat Landscape Report, a statistical analysis of 5,765 network and application layer DDoS attacks mitigated by Imperva Incapsula services during Q3 2017. Before diving into the report’s highlights, it should be mentioned that this quarter was marked...

Text messages and the Bitcoin Code: follow the money trail

I was a bit surprised to receive lots of messages similar to the one below this past week: I mean, we've all done it—managed a bulk text spam campaign offering free Bitcoins in your spare time, while completely forgetting said business exists. Maybe I did it in my sleep? It's all gone a bit Fight...

Tether Hacked — Attacker Steals $31 Million of Digital Tokens

Again some bad news for cryptocurrency users. Tether, a Santa Monica-based start-up that provides a dollar-backed cryptocurrency tokens, has claimed that its systems have been hacked by an external attacker, who eventually stole around $31 million worth of its tokens. With a market capitalization...

A week in security (November 6 – November 12)

After coming out victorious in a case against PUPs, Malwarebytes CEO Marcin Kleczynski has this to say: We fought for our users and we won. -- Marcin Kleczynski @mkleczynski November 9, 2017 And my, do we feel like champions! You can read more about this here. Last week, we looked into the...

BIP proposal security bypass vulnerability

The BIP proposal is a set of bitcoin verification algorithms. A security bypass vulnerability exists in the 'Bitcoin proof of work' function in BIP proposal. A remote attacker could use this vulnerability to bypass security restrictions and perform unauthorized operations...

PT-2020-8189

Name of the Vulnerable Software and Affected Versions: bitcoind and Bitcoin-Qt versions prior to 0.15.1 Description: The issue results from an integer signedness error when an attacker-controlled SOCKS proxy server responds with an acknowledgement of an unexpected target domain name, leading to a...

North Korea’s Most Powerful Weapon (Hint: It’s Not a Nuclear Arsenal)

With all the talk associated with North Korea’s prospects of launching a nuclear attack, there is often an overlooked, existential threat that continues to fly under the radar - cyberattacks. In truth, North Korea’s cyber warfare operations pose a much greater risk to the West than the prospect o...

Magnitude EK actor goes for Bitcoin multiplier scam (updated)

It is well known that hot commodities tend to attract scammers and online criminals. The continuous rise of Bitcoin over the past year valued at over USD $7,188 at the time of writing is generating frenzy amongst fans of cryptocurrencies as well as those watching from the sidelines. While the...

Excerpts from The Ransomware Economy: Emergence and Innovation

Carbon Black recently published an investigative report on the Dark Web marketplace for ransomware. This is an excerpt from that report, which you can find here. For more information about the rise of ransomware, and what you can do about it, check out the Future-Proof Your Ransomware Prevention...

BadRabbit ransomware strikes Eastern Europe

A new strain of ransomware called BadRabbit is spreading through Eastern Europe. Likely created by the same authors as the Petya/Not Petya ransomware outbreak in June, BadRabbit ransomware uses a website to drop a fake Flash update and then drops its payload. Click to view slideshow. Countries we...

‘Bad Rabbit’ Ransomware Strikes in Ukraine, Russia

In a similar outbreak to both WannaCry and Petya from earlier this year, it appears a new strain of ransomware known as "Bad Rabbit" has been found spreading in the Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere. Bad Rabbit encrypts the contents of a computer and asks for a payment of 0.05 bitcoins, or about $280...

BadRabbit Ransomware Attacks Hitting Russia, Ukraine

A ransomware attack has put a halt to business inside a handful of Russian media outlets and a number of major organizations in the Ukraine, including Kiev’s public transportation system and the country’s Odessa airport. The attacks are known as Bad Rabbit and harken back to the ExPetr/NotPetya...