EOS.io, the company responsible for the development of fourth-largest crypto by market cap EOS, has handed over bug bounties for five critical vulnerabilities this year. Public activity on breach disclosure platform HackerOne revealed the bounties. On Jan. 10, $40,750 was awarded to five white hat hackers on the platform by EOS.io, and the day after, another researcher received a $10,000 bounty. Five of those bounties are equivalent to $10,000 each, which is the highest possible payout reserved by the company only for the most critical vulnerabilities. The Tron Foundation, the company behind the cryptocurrency Tron, also awarded four bounties in …

Switzerland-based blockchain and cybersecurity firm WISeKey has opened a Blockchain Center of Excellence in Geneva, according to an announcement on Feb. 1. WISeKey focuses on secure authentication and identification using a cryptographic tool called Root of Trust. The company is increasingly incorporating Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain technology into its operations and portfolio. The Geneva Blockchain Center of Excellence will purportedly assist blockchain-related startups in addition to researching and promoting new technology. It will also aim to expedite the adoption of blockchain technology in the public and private sectors. Opening the center is part of a new partnership with …

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia have announced an agreement to cooperate on the creation of a cryptocurrency, UAE official news agency Emirate News Agency reports on Jan. 19. According to the report, the Executive Committee of the Saudi-Emirati Coordination Council has held a meeting in UAE capital Abu Dhabi, with 16 members in total from both countries, in order to discuss the join initiatives in the Strategy of Resolve. The Strategy of Resolve is comprised of seven initiatives, including civil aviation, financial awareness youth training, and the development of a cross-border digital currency. According to the article, …

A new cryptojacking malware has the ability to disable cloud-based security measures to avoid detection on Linux servers, research by information security company Palo Alto Networks Jan. 17 reveals. The malware in question mines Monero (XMR) and is reportedly a modified version of one used by the so-called “Rocke” group, originally discovered by cybersecurity firm Talos in August last year. According to the research, one of the first things that the malware does is check for other cryptocurrency mining processes and add firewall rules to block any other cryptojacking malware. The virus reportedly also searches for cloud security services by …

Blockchain adoption in the Internet of Things (IoT) industry more than doubled over the last 12 months, a survey conducted by major Dutch cybersecurity firm Gemalto reveals Jan. 15. According to the survey, firms in the IoT industry are increasingly turning to blockchain tech, with adoption of blockchain more than doubling from 9 to 19 percent in the past 12 months. Gemalto reportedly surveyed 950 information technology (IT) and business decision makers globally. According to the survey data, 90 percent of the companies think that IoT device security is a significant consideration for customers and 79 percent are requesting more …

Cryptojacking malware activity rose by over 4000 percent in 2018, according to a new quarterly report published by cyber security firm McAfee Labs, Dec. 18. Cryptojacking is the practice of using a computer’s processing power to mine for cryptocurrencies without the owner’s consent or knowledge. The McAfee statistic of over 4000 percent specifically refers to total instances of a cryptojacking malware, referred to in the study as “coin miner.” The report extends to a range of new crypto mining malware threat vectors, which notably include a spike in new malware targeting Internet of Things (IoT) devices: “New [mining] malware targeting …

Bahrain’s central bank has issued draft regulations on digital assets, Reuters reports Friday, Dec. 13. According to Reuters, “the central bank said it had issued for consultation draft rules for crypto asset platform operators, providing regulations for the licensing and supervision of crypto asset services.” Bahrain’s central bank has reportedly stated that the proposed regulations include “measures to safeguard customer interests, technology standards, and cybersecurity risk management.” Bahrain first announced its positive stance toward blockchain over a year ago. At the time, Khalid Al Rumaihi, the country’s chief executive of the Economic Development Board, called the technology a “huge opportunity …

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 satellite operator owned by South Korea’s largest telecommunications company KT Corporation is exploring blockchain, local newspaper EDaily reports Friday, Nov. 23. KT SAT, which is reportedly Korea’s sole satellite communication operator with 50 years of satellite expertise, has set up a working group to address the use of major emerging technologies, including blockchain, in order to expand the existing limits of the satellite industry. Announced yesterday, Nov. 22, at the company’s event “2018 KT SAT Partners Day,” the new initiative, dubbed KT SAT Eco Alliance, aims to bring together companies focusing on such tech fields as the Internet of …

Hackers have infected the website of global non-profit organization the Make-A-Wish Foundation with cryptojacking malware, according to a report by cybersecurity firm Trustwave posted Nov. 19. According to Trustwave researchers, crypto jackers managed to incorporate a JavaScript (JS) miner CoinImp into the domain worldwish.org in order to illicitly mine privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero (XMR). Similarly to the notorious Monero mining software CoinHive, CoinIMP has reportedly been using the computing power of website visitors to mine cryptocurrency. Per the report, the CoinImp script infected the website through the drupalupdates.tk domain, which is associated with another campaign that exploited a critical Drupal vulnerability …

Japanese multinational cybersecurity firm Trend Micro has detected a new strain of crypto-mining malware that targets PCs running Linux, according to a report published Nov. 8. The new strain is reportedly able to hide the malicious process of unauthorized cryptocurrency-mining through users’ CPU by implementing a rootkit component. The malware itself, detected by Trend Micro as Coinminer.Linux.KORKERDS.AB, is also reportedly capable of updating itself. According to the report, the combination of hiding and self-upgrading capabilities gives the malware a great advantage. While the rootkit fails to hide the increased CPU usage and the presence of a running crypto-mining malware, it …

Prominent cybersecurity firm Group-IB has graded the security of top crypto exchanges, U.S.-based tech news media the Next Web reported Tuesday, Nov. 6. According to research conducted by the Moscow-based firm in partnership with crypto asset insurance platform CryptoIns, the Kraken platform is the safest crypto exchange. In contrast, OKEx — the now-second crypto exchange by daily trade volume — as well as Huobi Pro and CoinCheck are the riskiest crypto trading spots, the report says. Per the Next Web, Group-IB made its determinations with a newly developed assessment system that calculates insurance premiums to cover cryptocurrencies held by major …