Nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea suffered a server breach on its main Discord channel, with hackers posting fake "Youtube partnership" announcements. A screenshot shared Friday shows fake collaboration news, accompanied by a link to a phishing site. OpenSea Support's official Twitter account tweeted that the marketplace's Discord server was breached Friday morning and warned users not to click links in the channel. Do not click links in our Discord. We are continuing to investigate this situation and will share information as we have it. https://t.co/jgtHcXifer — OpenSea Support (@opensea_support) May 6, 2022 The hacker's initial post, published in the announcements …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Tuesday that it would nearly double the number of personnel responsible for safeguarding investors in cryptocurrency markets. As per the announcement, the SEC’s Cyber Unit, which includes the Crypto Assets and Cyber team, will hire 20 new people for 50 dedicated positions. The SEC stated that the 20 hires would include investigative staff attorneys, trial lawyers and fraud analysts. Chair Gary Gensler praised the appointments as long overdue and essential to overseeing one of Wall Street’s newest and most popular sectors. This is welcome news to many who have been concerned …

Smart contract auditing firm Hacken CEO Dyma Budorin thinks Web3 cybersecurity providers are failing the crypto industry and that “huge blind spots” in market practices are impacting investor behavior. Budorin believes a lack of accountability and transparency in the audits performed by many providers falls short of reassuring users and projects. Currently, smart contract auditors take no accountability if a token they have audited gets hacked due to a bug in the code. Unsettlingly, most of the largest hack events in 2022 occurred on projects that were audited by third parties. In a call with Cointelegraph on Friday, Budorin said …

Blockchain security firm CertiK has raised $60 million in funding from SoftBank Vision Fund II and Tiger Global, further cementing its unicorn status after raising a combined $290 million over nine months. The raise comes at a time when the blockchain community is leading growth around Web3 application development and creating new use cases for virtual ecosystems, especially in gaming, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi). “When development moves at breakneck speed, mistakes happen,” CertiK’s vice president of marketing Monier Jalal explained to Cointelegraph in a written statement. He continued: “With current Web3 development, security most often is an …

The research arm of cyber security software firm Check Point said it identified a vulnerability in the Rarible NFT marketplace that could have seen many of its roughly two million active monthly users lose their NFTs in a single transaction. Check Point is a multinational IT security firm that was founded in Ramat Gan, Israel in 1993 and also claimed to have spotted issues relating to malicious airdrops on OpenSea back in October 2021. According to documents shared with Cointelegraph, Check Point Research (CPR) recently discovered that malicious actors could send users a dubious link to an NFT that executes …

The George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School National Security Institute hosted a webinar Wednesday, March 30, titled “Crypto and National Security: How to Validate American Innovation and Verify U.S. National Security.” Journalist Laura Shin moderated the discussion. CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation Sheila Warren, executive director of Coin Center Jerry Brito, and global managing partner and chief strategy officer of risk compliance and monitoring firm K2 Integrity Juan Zarate were participants. After opening comments, the first of three questions posed to the panel concerned American innovation. Brito expressed hope that crypto would be allowed to develop with …

Industry experts and lawmakers who spoke at a hearing of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs clashed on how the country should handle digital assets used for illicit purposes. Speaking remotely in a Thursday hearing on “Understanding the Role of Digital Assets in Illicit Finance”, Michael Chobanian, the founder of Kuna crypto exchange and President of Blockchain Association of Ukraine, called out Binance. He claimed the crypto exchange was “still working with the ruble” and implied the firm was not in compliance with current sanctions against Russia, which has engaged in a military invasion of …

A former blackhat hacker who goes by the name Gummo online claims to have amassed around $7 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC). Despite a flood of positive comments and posts relating to his interviews with the Soft White Underbelly YouTube channel — which has 3.18 million subscribers — information about Gummo is scarce elsewhere, which could either be by design or suggest that a large pinch of salt may be required when listening to his extravagant claims. He said that he has been working in the field for more than 30 years, and while he started hacking for illicit reasons …

Cyber Security Industry Advisory Committee, the Australian cybersecurity advisor, highlights various crypto-related opportunities for the government to undertake as it prepares for the global mainstreaming of cryptocurrencies. The study released by Australia’s Department of Home Affairs, titled ‘Exploring Cryptocurrencies’, cites the rise in crypto adoption as the country undergoes a rapid transformation to an advanced digital economy: “There is a need for regulatory settings that provide greater clarity and confidence about how the cryptocurrency market can operate in Australia.” The Federal advisory recommends exploration of four key areas that can “help ensure the safe adoption of cryptocurrencies in Australia” — …

The tide is turning on the way in which law enforcers discuss cryptocurrencies and treat crypto users. The United States Secret Service has launched a cryptocurrency awareness hub featuring a cheesy public service announcement video. The educational tool seeks to combat the “illicit use of digital assets as well as provide public awareness information on digital asset security and how to ensure it remains secure.” Watch the video here: "Secret Service: Safeguarding the next generation currency", Source: U.S. Secret Service Youtube U.S. Secret Service Office of Investigations Assistant Director Jeremy Sheridan said that the hub focuses on "investigating financial crimes." …

U.S. banking giant JPMorgan Chase has unveiled research on a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) blockchain network that is resistant to quantum computing attacks. QKD utilizes quantum mechanics and cryptography to enable two parties to exchange secure data and detect and defend against third parties that are attempting to eavesdrop on the exchange. The technology is seen as a viable defense against potential blockchain hacks that could be conducted by quantum computers in the future. According to a Feb.17 announcement, JPMorgan collaborated with Toshiba and Ciena to deploy and test the QKD blockchain. “At this time, QKD is the only solution …

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco has announced that the Federal Bureau of Investigation will be increasing efforts to address enforcement in the digital asset space with the formation of a new team. Speaking at the Munich Cyber Security Conference on Thursday, Monaco said the FBI was creating a “specialized team dedicated to cryptocurrency” called the Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit. The unit will include crypto experts and as well have the means for blockchain analysis that may eventually be used to track and seize illicit funds. The formation of the FBI team comes more than four months after Monaco announced …