Day: August 14, 2017

Russia’s National Settlement Depository plans to collaborate with Waves to launch a digital currency deposit and settlement platform.

Jack Dorsey, the CEO of both Twitter and Square, recently said he believes blockchain can be used to solve problems in a range of different areas.

BetKing, the popular online cryptocurrency casino is making a comeback after it temporarily closed doors late last year. As the developers continue to work on introducing loads of new features to the platform, BetKing is currently running a highly successful ICO. The crowdsale campaign offers investors a chance to fund the platform by investing in … Continue reading BetKing ICO Crosses $3 Million as the Company Revamps Its Platform

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Ukraine’s central bank has hinted that it will advance plans to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies in the country. This stands in contrast to earlier plans to embrace Blockchain technology.

The Android ecosystem has been targeted often by cybercriminals these past few months. Dozens of applications have been removed from the Google Play Store due to malicious code. It now appears a whole new batch of spyware-laden Android apps have been discovered. At least three problematic apps were identified, although there may be more creations still out there from the same nefarious developer.

Yet Another Major Concern for Android Users

Relying on an Android smartphone is slowly becoming  a security risk. Although the platform is far more open compared to iOS, that is one of its weak points. Anyone can build applications for Android and have them vetted by the Google Play Store team. However, it seems the chance of malicious apps slipping through have increased due to the vast amount of new software submitted for review every single week.

Indeed, there is no other explanation as to why three more apps containing spyware have been identified in the Google Play Store. Lookout, a renowned security firm, identified these programs last week, claiming that all three contain an advanced form of spyware. It is believed these apps were created by an Iraqi coder, although that has yet to be officially confirmed.

To create these apps, the author simply modified the Telegram application and injected spyware code. The app was then rebranded and uploaded to the Play Store under new names. They are known as Soniac, Hulk Messenger, and Troy Chat. Other clones may be out there as well, for all we know, and the instant messaging application market may see similar threats in the future.

It is not entirely surprising that Lookout has successfully identified these apps at this time. The company has been going through a long list of Android apps in search of the SonicSpy spyware tool. This appears to be the updated version of SpyNote, another type of Android spyware which made the rounds a few years ago. It is possible the same person is responsible for both types of malware as well as the recently discovered apps in the Google Play Store.

What makes SonicSpy so frightening and troublesome is the fact that it comes packed with myriad “features”. It is more than capable of recording audio, taking photos, making outbound calls, or sending SMS messages. All of those activities are quite worrisome, especially when they affect one’s personal device. The software also enables the transmission of certain data when connected through WiFi access points, although it is unclear if this is a way to communicate with a centralized command & control server.

Even though SonicSpy packs in a ton of dangerous features, it is completely harmless unless an Android user were to grant it the appropriate privileges. After installing any of the three aforementioned apps, the user is asked to grant permissions to the application in question. Doing so opens up one’s device to all of this spyware’s tricks, which could have dire consequences. Happily, all three apps have now been removed from the Play Store.

Investors have started to include Bitcoin in their portfolios as a safe haven asset, due to its immutability to economic uncertainty.

BTC-e has decided to go ahead with reimbursing users with freely convertible BTCT tokens.

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The Real Estate Asset Ledger (REAL) is hoping to use the disruptive power of Ethereum Blockchain in order to make real estate crowdfunding a new investment alternative.

An analyst for Goldman Sachs said yesterday that bitcoin could shoot as high as $4,800 – comments that came amid new highs for the cryptocurrency.

According to BleepingComputer, Israeli authorities recently charged two 19-year-olds for running the largest DDoS-for-hire service platform at the time it went down in autumn of last year, known as vDos. DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks essentially attempt to take an online service down by overwhelming it with traffic from multiple sources. They are so common that there is now an online Digital Attack Map which allows people to witness these attacks as they occur.

How vDos was taken down

vDos operated from 2012 to 2016, when it was taken down. Not a lot of people knew about its existence, but according to researchers, the service was responsible for most DDoS attacks occurring during that period. In the summer of 2016, a similar attack-for-hire service called PoddleStresser, run by the infamous DDoS hacking crew PoodleCorp, was hacked due to a vulnerability.

This allowed hackers and security professionals to dump data from the third-party botnet, which at the time was mostly being used to attack gaming servers. Clues from PoodleStresser’s code led to vDos’s API, and the data eventually ended up in the hands of Infosec investigative journalist Brian Krebs.

In September 2016, Krebs published an exposé on his blog in which he revealed everything. According to his post, vDos earned its administrators – Itay “p1st” Huri and Yarden “applej4ck” Bidani – over US$600,000 from thousands of clients. The article even mentioned that vDos’s administrators had laundered money received through PayPal with the help of various forum members.

A few hours after Krebs published his article, Israeli police acted on an FBI tip and took down vDos for good. After Bidani and Huri’s arrests, one of the biggest DDoS attacks the internet had ever seen –allegedly involving 665 GB of traffic per second– hit Krebs’ blog KrebsOnSecurity. The attacks originated from the DDoS-for-hire community and dissatisfied vDos customers.

Before being taken down, vDos offered a broad range of DDoS-for-hire services, including botnet rentals. Its package prices ranged from US$29.99 to US$199.99 per month, and multiple clients often used the service simultaneously. A mirror of the service’s website is available online.

Israeli authorities are pressing charges

Israeli officials are moving forward with the investigation of vDos’s administrators and have filed a formal indictment, according to the Israeli State Department Prosecutor’s Office. The suspects are not named, as they were minors when their service was up and running, but the provided statement confirms most of Krebs’s findings.

For example, it confirms that vDos operators made over US$600,000 from thousands of clients throughout the years, and that the service has ties to renowned DDoS hacking groups such as Lizard Squad and PoodleCorp.

Investigators say that over 2 million DDoS attacks were launched using vDos, and that its admins used a fake UK company to launder money that they had received via PayPal and in Bitcoin.

With the Bitcoin price setting new records on a nearly weekly basis, it has become more important than ever before to keep track of one’s cryptocurrency portfolio. There are several top applications which can be used to do this. We have listed four applications which anybody can use on either a desktop or mobile device, depending on the user’s preference. Always do your own research before downloading and installing any of these apps.

4. TabTrader

One of the more common applications to be used for mobile cryptocurrency portfolio management is TabTrader. TabTrader supports around a dozen exchanges these days, but some of the smaller and foreign exchanges which one would expect to see are not accessible. TabTrader works fine on mobile devices, although the widgets for specific currency prices may lag a bit now and then. A force-close of the app should solve that problems quickly. For a free app, one cannot complain too much.

3. CryptFolio

As the name suggests, CryptFolio focuses on letting users keep track of their cryptocurrencies, as well as their miners, investments, and equities. One of the main features of this tool is that it can generate regular reports on one’s portfolio. There are two account plans available for Cryptfolio: the free version and a premium option. There are some big differences between the two, although the premium features are not necessarily required for every trader.

Purchasing a CryptFolio premium account costs 0.06 BTC per year, or around US$240 at current prices. For people who like notifications, technical analysis solutions and more tracked accounts, going premium is an absolute must. CryptFolio accepts payments in Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Dogecoin — an interesting assortment of currencies, to say the least.

2. CoinTracking

CoinTracking is trying to do a few things right and has a marketable name to go along with it. The company specializes in tracking profits and losses from one’s portfolio and provides tools related to tax purposes as well. With support for 26 different exchanges, CoinTracking is certainly on the right track. This solution is completely free to use, and there is both a web and a desktop version of the tool available to users.

1. BlockFolio

Virtually every cryptocurrency user has heard of BlockFolio. It is a popular portfolio management tool which provides support for both Bitcoin and most altcoins in existence today. It is also a prominent mobile solution for keeping track of one’s various investments. Users get a comprehensive overview of their portfolio as well as the exchanges on which particular coins trade. A news section is a nice addition.

One feature a lot of users appreciate about BlockFolio is that it offers detailed price notifications. This is especially handy for people who explore altcoins, as they are often prone to wild price fluctuations in both directions. There is also built-in support for stock charts, order books, and market details for every currency. All things considered, there are plenty of reasons to give BlockFolio a try as it is a powerful solution for any type of cryptocurrency user.