Cyber security firm Check Point Research has found that the KingMiner cryptojacker targeting cryptocurrency Monero (XMR) is “evolving,” according to a company’s blog post published Nov. 30. KingMiner was purportedly firstly detected in mid-June, subsequently evolving in two improved versions. The malware attacks Windows Servers by deploying various evasion methods to skirt its detection. Per Check Point data, several detection engines have registered significantly decreased detection rates, while sensor logs have shown a growing number of KingMiner attacks. The firm has been monitoring KingMiner activity over the past six months and concluded that the malware has evolved in two new …

A new bulletin from Russian internet security company Kaspersky Labs published Nov. 28 states that crypto mining malware became increasingly popular among botnets in 2018. Stealth crypto mining attacks – also know as cryptojacking – work by installing malware that uses a computer’s processing power to mine for cryptocurrencies without the owner’s consent or knowledge. According to Kaspersky, after the crypto market bull run subsided in Jan.-Feb. 2018, interest in cryptojacking also briefly tapered off – yet it has nonetheless remained a consistent and current threat throughout the year. Number of unique users attacked by miners in Q1–Q3 2018 Among …

The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned two Iranians allegedly involved in Bitcoin (BTC) ransomware scheme SamSam, the Treasury reported in an official press release today, Nov. 28. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has taken action on Wednesday against two Iranian individuals, Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan, who are accused of exchanging Bitcoin into Iranian rials (IRR). This is also the first time that Bitcoin addresses have been publically attributed to “designated individuals” on the OFAC’s sanctions list. According to the report, SamSam ransomware breaks into companies’ computer networks, allowing criminals to take over …

The lawyer for Alexander Vinnik, the alleged former operator of defunct cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, has said that a district court in Cyprus has withdrawn their lawsuit on charges “of fraud, money laundering and other crimes.” This development was reported by state-operated Russian news agency RIA Novosti Nov. 27. Timofey Musatov, the head of the lawyers’ group representing Vinnik, has said that the district court of Limassol city has formally granted the plaintiffs’ petition to recall their lawsuit against Vinnik and even ruled “to compensate the defendant for all legal costs incurred by him.” Musatov added: “The case against Alexander collapsed …

Cryptocurrency hardware wallet manufacturer Trezor issued a warning to users Nov. 19 after making what it called the “startling” discovery that rogue actors were creating and selling fake devices. Trezor, which together with Ledger and KeepKey forms one of the oldest and best-known wallet manufacturers, said that an “unknown” third party was distributing “one-to-one copies” of its flagship Trezor One device. “Trezor clones have been released over the years of our activity,” officials said, noting: “However, in recent weeks, we have discovered something more startling. A one-to-one copy of Trezor One. In other words, a fake Trezor device, manufactured by …

On November 7, a security news and investigation blog KrebsOnSecurity published an interview with REACT Task Force, a California-based law enforcement group dedicated to fighting cybercrime. As per the article, members of REACT consider “SIM swapping” one of its “highest priorities” in a bid to fight cryptocurrency fraud. Here is how fraudsters use 99 cent SIM cards bought off eBay to steal millions worth of crypto with just one call. “SIM swapping”: what is it? SIM swapping is the process of making a telecom provider like, say, T-Mobile, transfer the victim’s phone number to a SIM card held by the …

The suspect at the center of the U.S.’ first Initial Coin Offering (ICO) fraud case has pleaded guilty in court, in part settling a case seen as a bellwether for the country’s securities laws, Bloomberg reported Nov. 15. Maksim Zaslavskiy, who faces a sentence of up to 37 months after lying to investors who put funds into two ICOs last year, confirmed he had lied about aspects of his operations. The court case involves REcoin and Diamond Reserve Coin, which had claimed to be backed by real estate and diamonds respectively. Investors lost money when both coins imploded, Zaslavskiy and …

Acting U.S. attorney general (AG) Matthew G. Whitaker has come under fire for his association with an allegedly fraudulent patent company that involved cryptocurrency, U.S. news journal MotherJones reported Nov. 14. Whitaker, a Trump loyalist, was appointed by the U.S. president to replace former attorney general Jeff Sessions Nov. 7. Among other controversies, Whitaker is now being scrutinized for his involvement with “World Patent Marketing,” an alleged scam that marketed sundry outlandish products from aspiring inventors, including a “theoretical time travel commodity tied directly to price of Bitcoin.” As MotherJones reports, the marketed products also included a bespoke “masculine toilet” …

Malware researcher Lukas Stefanko has found four fake cryptocurrency wallets on the Google Play Store that were trying to steal users’ personal data, according to a blog post published Nov. 13. The apps were posing as cryptocurrency wallets for NEO, Tether and an extension for accessing Ethereum (ETH), MetaMask. They were purportedly designed to phish users’ mobile banking credentials and credit card information. Stefanko classified the wallets into two groups, wherein the fake MetaMask app was a “phishing wallet” and the other three apps were “fake wallets.” Once the phishing app is installed and launched, it requests the user's private …

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has published a warning Nov. 14 about scammers demanding tax payments through Bitcoin ATMs. The post notes that the number of scammers who request payment through BTC has now exceeded those who ask for iTunes giftcards. Kath Anderson, the Assistant Commissioner at the ATO, said this year that the number of scammers pretending to be associated with the ATO in order to request fraudulent taxation payments had increased, asking “Australians to be on high alert for tax scams.” Back in the spring, the tax regulator had previously warned citizens that scammers claiming fake tax debt …

The official Twitter account of Google's G Suite was reportedly compromised to promote a Bitcoin (BTC) giveaway scam, technology and business news outlet the Next Web reported Nov. 13. The G Suite Twitter account was reportedly hacked to advertise a BTC giveaway scam to the page’s more than 800,000 followers. Scammers supposedly spread a message luring users to participate in a fraudulent 10,000 BTC giveaway, concurrently announcing that Google’s G Suite now accepts cryptocurrency as a means of payment. Screenshot of the scam message. Source: The Next Web According to the Hard Fork, the message disappeared barely more than 10 …

China-based Bitcoin (BTC) mining giant Bitmain has sued an anonymous hacker for the alleged theft of cryptocurrency worth $5.5 million from Bitmain’s account on Binance in April, according to a lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle on Nov. 7. As stated in the court document, an unknown hacker, referred to as “John Doe” in the case, managed to take over Bitmain’s Binance account and used stored Bitcoin to manipulate the price of altcoin Decentraland (MANA) and then steal the profits. Bitmain says in the court document that the amount of the …