Russia implements an outright ban on Bitcoin
You might think that Russia has just about enough on its plate at the moment, what with having the Winter Olympics to host and fending off global accusations of homophobia, but the Central Bank of Russia has found the time to slap a ban on Bitcoin. This is not the first country to outlaw the online currency -- it's something that has already been done by Thailand and it's being considered by others.
The General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation looked into "the so-called virtual currencies" phenomenon and found that there was a risk of Bitcoin being used for money laundering. The damning ruling refers to Bitcoin and other similar currencies as "money substitutes". Citing Article 27 of the Federal Law, the General Prosecutor said that "the official currency of the Russian Federation is the ruble", going on to say that money issued in other forms is prohibited.
Apple logo offends Russian Christians
According to a story on the Russian Interfax news site, some Russian Christians have taken to defacing, or replacing, the logo on their Apple products because it’s "anti-Christian" and insults their faith.
While to you or I the logo just looks like a Golden Delicious that’s had a chomp taken out of one side, to some radical Orthodox Christians, including some priests, it apparently represents the original sin as described in the Bible, where Adam and Eve disobey God by noshing on some forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.
US blasts China, Russia over 'extensive' cyberspying
China is in the spotlight again after a US intelligence report accused the country of cyber espionage. The country is using the data stolen as a result to strengthen its own economy, and is a threat to both American progress and the economy overall, the report says.
"Many states view economic espionage as an essential tool in achieving national security and economic prosperity", the report reads. "Their economic espionage programs...could give these states a competitive edge over the United States and other rivals".
Russian payment firm could be behind Mac Defender scam
Evidence is mounting that a Russian payment processing firm may be behind the Mac Defender malware scam that has suddenly brought the issue of Mac viruses into the limelight. Security researchers at Microsoft noted that the software shares some similarities to fake antivirus products intended for Windows machines.
Security researcher Brian Krebs has also been able to trace back the application to ChronoPay, a firm that has been involved in scareware scams in the past. Krebs scanned the WHOIS information of domains that victims were being sent to, and found contact e-mails matching that of other ChronoPay-linked domains.
Russian site says Windows 7 SP1 shipped to OEMs, Microsoft denies
A Russian Windows TechNet Blog Thursday evening announced "Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Released", and the presumption was that Microsoft had begun shipping SP1 (v. 601.17514.win7sp1_rtm.101119-1850.) to OEM partners.
The update has been slated for a first quarter 2011 release, and in October, RC1 of this incremental service update was pushed out. So the final RTM is expected to be very soon.
Russia beats the US to an HTC 4G WiMAX phone
In an exclusive deal with Russian carrier Scartel's Yota network, HTC has premiered its first GSM/WiMAX handset, indicating how rapidly the evolution of the world's communications infrastructure may be leaving the US behind.
Logically called the MAX 4G, HTC's Windows Mobile 6.1 device offers a 3.8" (800 x 400) WVGA tactile display with the company's TouchFLO 3D user interface, the UI of HTC's Touch Diamond, Pro, and HD devices.
Google wants to expand into Russia, but Russia won't let it
Google's attempts to buy a Russian contextual ad firm Begun are now being blocked by antitrust authorities in that country, who have turned down Google's application -- temporarily, at least.
Russian antitrust authorities today rejected an attempt by Google's affiliate there, Kokuna Holding, to buy a contextual advertising firm named Begun from Russian-based portal Rambler for $140 million.
Russia to get iPhone 3G through VimpelCom
The nation's second largest mobile carrier is the first to confirm that it would indeed be carrying the popular device, though other carriers are expected to follow.
"VimpelCom announced today it has signed an agreement with Apple to bring iPhone 3G to Russia, expected later this year," the company said in a very brief statement.
Attacks continue on Russian and Georgian Web sites, but who's to blame?
Armed conflict between Russia and Georgia has been paralleled by what many in the media have classed a "cyberwar," where Georgian Web sites have been crippled by DDoS attacks and defacements.
As Georgian government sites were rendered inaccessible this week, Poland, Estonia, and the United States hosted mirrors to provide supplementary outlets for information. Polish president Lech Kaczynski's official site says, "Along with military aggression, the Russian Federation is blocking Georgian Internet portals."
Russia launches GPS-like satellites on Christmas Day
As an unusual Christmas present to the world, Russia sent the last three of its GPS-compatible GLONASS satellites into space on Tuesday, whose missions range from global military tracking to keeping an eye on civilian-owned pet dogs and cats.
While most nations sat practically still during the traditional late December lull, Russia sent the rest of the world a present on Christmas Day by shooting the last three of its GPS (Global Position System)-compatible GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) satellites into space.
Seductive Russian chat bot tries to steal your private data
From Russia, the land well-publicized for bringing the Internet questionable music service AllofMP3.com and mafia-related bank scams, comes a new kind of chat bot.
Called Cyberlover, the program is an application that claims to intelligently fabricate chat room dialogue that seduces its victims into sharing personal photos and phone numbers. In half an hour, the program can supposedly secure 4 to 6 "contacts."
LiveJournal sold to Russian media company SUP
The transaction is intended to allow Six Apart to focus on its other core brands, including MovableType, TypePad, and Vox.
This morning, blogging software producer Six Apart announced it's selling the rest of its LiveJournal service -- that part which Russian media company SUP hasn't already been running there -- to SUP for an undisclosed sum.
New Russian movie download site follows AllofMP3's lead
Although it is apparently not related to the music download site that was the bane of the music industry's existence, a new site is promising cheap downloads of movies.
Called ZML, the new site offers about 1,500 different titles for download that are free of any digital rights management restrictions. Among the titles available include recent hits 300 and Transformers, as well as classics Apocalypse Now and Aliens.
Russian Piracy Ruling Overturned
A Russian schoolteacher is being forced to stand trial on charges he pirated software for a second time, as a regional court overturned an earlier ruling that had dismissed the charges against him.
The initial case drew the attention of former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who wrote an open letter to Bill Gates to ask that he show the defendant mercy. However, Microsoft responded and said they had nothing to do with the case, and it was later thrown out.
Russian Windows Trojan Discovered, May Point to Identity Theft Ring
The Atlanta-based security services firm SecureWorks discovered, by way of an inquiry from one of its Windows customers, what appears to be a very sophisticated Trojan horse program. Under intense analysis, the program was discovered to be attempting to deliver users’ certificates and other identifying data to a variety of IP addresses found to be hosted in Russia.
The Trojan trips only a handful of anti-virus programs using heuristic analysis, an in-depth SecureWorks report states, including Sophos, Symantec, F-Prot, and CA’s VET. But it just slips by most other protection programs; and evidence trails uncovered by SecureWorks indicate that specifically-targeted users may have been infected as far back as December 2006.
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