Coverity Scan code checker's systems crypto-jacked to run cheeky mining op

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China's blockchain boosters slam crypto as Ponzi scheme

Communists reckon Bill Gates and Warren Buffet got it right

Laura Dobberstein Tue 28 Jun 2022 // 08:02 UTC

Executives at China's Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) – a state-backed initiative aimed at driving the commercial adoption of blockchain technology – labelled cryptocurrency "the biggest Ponzi scheme in human history" in state-sponsored media on Sunday.
"The author of this article believes that virtual currency is becoming the largest Ponzi scheme in human history, and in order to maintain this scam, the currency circle has tried to put on various cloaks for it," wrote Shan Zhiguang and He Yifan in the People's Daily.
He Yifan is the CEO of startup Red Date Technology – a founding member and architect behind BSN – where he serves as executive director. Co-author Zhiguang Shan is chair of the BSN Development Alliance.

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Crypto sleuths pin $100 million Harmony theft on Lazarus Group

Elliptic points to several indicators that suggest the North Korea-linked gang was behind the hack

Jeff Burt Fri 1 Jul 2022 // 18:11 UTC

Investigators at a blockchain analysis outfit have linked the theft of $100 million in crypto assets last week to the notorious North Korean-based cybercrime group Lazarus. The company said it had tracked the movement of some of the stolen cryptocurrency to a so-called mixer used to launder such ill-gotten funds.
Blockchain startup Harmony announced June 23 that its Horizon Bridge – a cross-chain bridge service used to transfer assets between Harmony's blockchain and other blockchains – had been attacked and crypto assets like Ethereum, Wrapped Bitcoin, Binance Coin, and Tether stolen.
According to blockchain analytics company Elliptic, the attacker immediately turned to Uniswap, a decentralized exchange, to convert most of the assets into 85,837 Ethereum, which researchers said is a common method used by hackers to avoid the stolen assets from being seized.

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Central bank: Crypto 'derives value based on make believe', threatens financial stability

India's Reserve Bank no fan of digi-dollars – even its own planned central bank digital currency

Simon Sharwood, APAC Editor Fri 1 Jul 2022 // 01:04 UTC

India's Reserve Bank has offered a scathing assessment of cryptocurrencies in its latest financial stability report – saying the risks they create demand attention before they undermine established institutions.
"Cryptocurrencies are a clear danger," the report baldly declares in its Foreword, penned by Reserve Bank governor Shaktikanta Das. "Anything that derives value based on make believe, without any underlying [value], is just speculation under a sophisticated name."
The report doesn't assess cryptocurrency as an immediate danger, noting that crypto assets represent just 0.4 percent of all financial assets and their interoperability with the traditional financial system is "restricted".

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Intel ships crypto-mining ASIC at the worst possible time

Chipmaker finally ahead of schedule only to find it arrived too late

Dylan Martin Thu 30 Jun 2022 // 17:39 UTC

Comment Intel has begun shipping its cryptocurrency-mining "Blockscale" ASIC slightly ahead of schedule, and the timing could not be more unfortunate as digital currency values continue to plummet.
Raja Koduri, the head of Intel's Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics group, tweeted Wednesday the company has started initial shipments of the Blockscale ASIC to crypto-mining firms Argo Blockchain, Hive Blockchain and Griid:

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US senators seek input on their cryptocurrency law via GitHub – and get some

Those town hall meetings that go off the rails? That's the internet all day, every day

Thomas Claburn in San Francisco Sat 25 Jun 2022 // 01:25 UTC

The two US senators behind a proposed law to bring order to cryptocurrency finance have published their legislation to Microsoft's GitHub to obtain input from the unruly public.
The bill, known as the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, was introduced by Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) on June 7 to create a regulatory framework governing digital assets, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technology.
It has been welcomed by the Stellar Development Foundation and cryptocurrency trade group the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a sign that the legislation doesn't ask much of those it would regulate.

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Plot to defeat crypto meltdown: Solend votes to seize, liquidate whale account

95% of SOL deposits from 1 person, so margin selloffs could mean collapse

Brandon Vigliarolo Mon 20 Jun 2022 // 14:46 UTC

Decentralized finance lending platform Solend tried to fend off the effects of the crypto meltdown at the weekend when 97.5 percent of its users voted to give it emergency powers to liquidate its largest customer account. A second vote held today reversed the first.

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OpenSea phishing threat after rogue insider leaks customer email addresses

Worse, imagine someone finding out you bought one of its NFTs

Jessica Lyons Hardcastle Thu 30 Jun 2022 // 21:20 UTC

The choppy waters continue at OpenSea, whose security boss this week disclosed the NFT marketplace suffered an insider attack that could lead to hundreds of thousands of people fending off phishing attempts.
An employee of OpenSea's email delivery vendor Customer.io "misused" their access to download and share OpenSea users' and newsletter subscribers' email addresses "with an unauthorized external party," Head of Security Cory Hardman warned on Wednesday.
"If you have shared your email with OpenSea in the past, you should assume you were impacted," Hardman continued.

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Singapore promises 'brutal and unrelentingly hard' action on dodgy crypto players

But welcomes fast cross-border payments in central bank digital currencies

Laura Dobberstein Mon 27 Jun 2022 // 00:30 UTC

In the same week that it welcomed the launch of a local center of excellence focused on crypto-inspired central bank digital currencies, Singapore's Monetary Authority (MAS) has warned crypto cowboys they face a rough ride in the island nation.
The center of excellence (COE) was established by the Mojaloop Foundation – an open source effort to create payment platforms to make digital financial services accessible to those without access to banks. The COE aims to "accelerate financial inclusion in emerging markets" through hackathons, workshops and pilot projects while examining expanded CBDCs payment capabilities."
Singapore's sovereign wealth fund has invested in Mojaloop, and MAS chief fintech officer Sopnendu Mohanty serves as a board advisor and the authority provides representatives to the Foundation's working group, alongside folks from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, and more.

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Investors start betting against Bitcoin with short-trade products

Some crypto-bros keep the faith in the face of market onslaught

Lindsay Clark Tue 21 Jun 2022 // 14:00 UTC

ProShares, the issuer of exchange-traded funds with around $65 billion under management, has launched the first short Bitcoin exchange-traded product in the US, offering a way for investors to make money from the ongoing cryptocurrency meltdown.
Dubbed the ProShares Short Bitcoin Strategy, the ETF is set to launch on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BITI. Bitcoin declined to $17,601.58 over the weekend, according to Coin Metrics. It has lost 70 percent of its value since last November's highs.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Nate Geraci, president of wealth management firm The ETF Store, said there would be "a rather robust market" for the short funds.

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Halfords suffers a puncture in the customer details department

I like driving in my car, hope my data's not gone far

Richard Speed Thu 23 Jun 2022 // 08:30 UTC

UK automobile service and parts seller Halfords has shared the details of its customers a little too freely, according to the findings of a security researcher.
Like many, cyber security consultant Chris Hatton used Halfords to keep his car in tip-top condition, from tires through to the annual safety checks required for many UK cars.
In January, Hatton replaced a tire on his car using a service from Halfords. It's a simple enough process – pick a tire online, select a date, then wait. A helpful confirmation email arrived with a link for order tracking. A curious soul, Hatton looked at what was happening behind the scenes when clicking the link and "noticed some API calls that seemed ripe for an IDOR" [Insecure Direct Object Reference].

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