Criminals rarely use cryptocurrency
The fact that cybercriminals like to be paid in Bitcoin to unlock encrypted files or sell private information gives the impression that criminals must be major users of cryptocurrency. However, a new report from the European Commission suggests that the reality is very different.
Criminal organizations rarely use cryptocurrency (or, as the European Commission calls it, virtual currency) for illegal activities, like financing terrorism and money laundering, because it requires a certain level of technical expertise that hampers adoption.
Petya attackers make $250,000 demand
Criminals behind the recent Petya/NotPetya attack have made a fresh ransom demand as they look to continue their mayhem
A post on online hub DeepPaste said to be from the attackers is demanding 100 bitcoins ($250,000) to decrypt anything that's been affected by the recent attack. Motherboard managed to get in touch with one of the individuals claiming to be from the group. They tried the decryption on a file, and after a two-hour wait, it was successful.
VCs still investing in UK's tech sector despite Brexit risks
The UK's tech sector is continuing to see high levels of interest in spite of the risks associated with Brexit, new figures have revealed.
In fact, the nation attracted more investments in the last six months than it has in any six months in the last decade.
Samsung may become the world's largest chip maker
Samsung will soon be releasing its quarterly profits for the second quarter of 2017 and the company is expected to surpass Intel as the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer by revenue.
This is the first time that the South Korean electronics giant has been able to outsell Intel as a result of increased memory chip sales from April to June. Demand has soared for smartphones and servers with more powerful chips and, as a result, their sales have gone up.
Payment processor Worldpay agrees to $10 billion acquisition offer from Vantiv
The UK's biggest payment processor, Worldpay Group, has agreed to the terms of an acquisition offer from US rival Vantiv. News of the $10 billion (£7.7 billion) deal sent Worldpay's share price tumbling; while the planned takeover values shares at 385p, they quickly dropped to 368p.
Just days ago, Worldpay revealed it had been approached with offers from Vantiv and JPMorgan, and the latter has now ruled itself out of making an official bid. Vantiv's takeover of Worldpay would see the US company spreading into Europe with its POS and online payment services.
Major cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb gets hacked
Thanks to its rapidly growing value, relative anonymity, and easy trading opportunities, the cryptocurrency market is a highly attractive target for hackers. Making things even more interesting, the major exchanges deal with significant volumes throughout the day, making them a prime target for cryptocurrency thefts.
Bithumb is among the biggest targets, being the fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume and the largest in South Korea. And last week it got hacked, with users estimated to have lost billions of won as a result. I say estimated because Bithumb hasn't gone public yet with an accurate figure -- or any figure for that matter.
AI could boost UK's GDP by 10 percent by 2030
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to provide a major boost to the UK’s GDP over the next decade, new research has claimed.
A new report by PwC says that by 2030, the country’s GDP could see a boost of around 10 percent thanks to AI -- equivalent to around £232 billion.
Cryptocurrency market bounces back after crash
Volatility is the norm of the day in the cryptocurrency market, so the recent crash that saw tens of billions of dollars wiped off from its value is hardly something unusual. These things happen from time to time, but, as of late, you can expect the market to recover shortly after.
Case in point: yesterday I was telling you that all the major cryptocurrencies were in the red. The market's cap was down to under $90 billion. A couple of hours later, things started to improve, reaching the point where the cap is back over the $100 billion mark.
Bitcoin is stronger than Ethereum -- the flippening will have to wait
When the price of Ethereum broke the $400 mark earlier this month, the flippening looked like a sure thing. Pundits were expecting it to soon surpass Bitcoin and become the most valuable cryptocurrency in the process. However, fast forward to today, Ethereum is crashing hard while its rival is still holding well.
The price of Ethereum has dropped to around $235, bringing its market cap down to around $21.9 billion. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is trading for around $2330, and its market cap is around $38.8 billion. From a difference of less than $8 billion in market cap, Bitcoin's lead has more than doubled in just a couple of weeks.
GDAX exchange reimburses customers affected by Ethereum price crash
A large sale order on the GDAX exchange earlier this week caused the price of Ethereum to crash massively for a brief period of time. The second most-valuable cryptocurrency dropped to as low as $0.10 in trading before bouncing back to over $300, after the sale triggered a domino effect which saw around 800 advanced orders being filled.
The customers who placed those orders -- stop loss and margin call -- have lost big as a result. However, even though it has found that "all trades this week were executed properly," GDAX says that it will reimburse the affected accounts, in what I believe is a brilliant move on its behalf.
Businesses spend $2,300 to deal with a malware attack
To remedy a malware attack businesses need to shell out, on average, $2,300 per attack. This is according to a new report by Arbor Networks.
The report, produced in partnership with research organization 451 Research, says spear phishing attacks are still most successful of all the different methods of entry.
Ethereum price plunges to $0.10 before bouncing back
Ethereum has redefined volatility in the cryptocurrency market. On the GDAX exchange, the second most valuable cryptocurrency dropped to as low as $0.10 in trading before the price swiftly recovered.
The price of Ethereum is hovering around the $336 mark at the time of writing this article. What caused the plunge? GDAX blames it on a basic sell order, albeit one of really high value.
Retailers will lose $71bn due to payment fraud
Retailers are facing losses of up to $71 billion globally as the number of fraudulent card-not-present (CNP) transactions rises hugely within the next five years.
A new report from Juniper Research has revealed that a number of different factors are driving the increase in fraud, including the US shifting towards EMV cards, delays in 3DS 2.0 and click-and collect fraud methods.
Web hosting company pays $1 million after Erebus ransomware attack
The cost of a ransomware attack can be pretty substantial. Businesses that are not well prepared are looking at lost revenue from downtime and massive damage to their reputation, not to mention a pretty hefty ransom bill as well.
For web hosting company Nayana, that was $1 million. Nayana, which is based in South Korea, had 153 of its Linux-based servers infected by the Erebus ransomware on June 10. The attack affected roughly 3,400 customers that relied on its services for hosting websites, databases and multimedia content.
Digital solutions make up nearly half of a company's revenue
Digital solutions are becoming an increasingly profitable operation for many businesses, generating almost half of revenue (47 percent) for most major organizations, according to a new report.
That's according to Pure Storage which surveyed 9,000 businesses in 24 countries and in three regions (US, EMEA, Asia Pacific), and found that digital transformation is "no longer a buzzword" but is, in fact, actually happening right now.
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