DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Cybercriminals raked in record $1.1 billion in ransom payments in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Washington CNN —Cybercriminals extorted a record $1.1 billion in ransom payments from victim organizations around the world last year despite US government efforts to cut off their money flows, crypto-tracking firm Chainalysis said in a report released Wednesday. The surge in ransom payments, which nearly doubled the $567 million by Chainalysis in 2022, coincided with a “major escalation in the frequency, scope, and volume of attacks,” the New York based-firm said. After the FBI announced an operation that thwarted $130 million in ransom payments for several months in 2022, a variety of cybercriminal groups have struck US casinos, hospitals and schools in 2023, and have sometimes collected big payouts. MGM Resorts has estimated its recovery costs from a major ransomware attack last year at $100 million. Multiple US government agencies themselves were hacked by a Russian-speaking ransomware gang, as CNN first reported in July, though there were no reports of ransom payments made by those victims.

Persons: Washington CNN — Cybercriminals, Chainalysis, Jackie Burns Koven, Biden Organizations: Washington CNN, FBI, CNN, MGM Resorts, Colonial Pipeline, US Treasury, White, Justice Locations: York

☆ What is catfishing and what can you do if you are catfished?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Sen Nguyen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

In the US, romance scams resulting from catfishing have among the highest reported financial losses of internet crimes as a whole. A 2019 study found that young LGBTQ+ men in rural America experiencing catfishing on dating apps felt angry and fearful. She also emphasized the need to recognize today’s loneliness epidemic, which “leads people to perhaps be more susceptible to catfishing scams,” she said. Catfishing is not explicitly a crime, but the actions that often accompany catfishing, such as extortion for money, gifts or sexual images are crimes in many places. In the US, romance scams resulting from catfishing have among the highest reported financial losses of internet crimes as a whole.

Persons: CNN —, Nev Schulman, “ Megan ”, Schulman, Evita, scammers, Catfishing, Snapchat, ”, Ngo Minh Hieu, Chong, Hieu, Wang, “, It’s, Fangzhou Wang, ” Wang, Maryna, WeChat Organizations: CNN, Cybersmile Foundation, Federation University, Fraud Intelligence, INTERPOL, Research, US Federal Trade Commission, SMS, University of Texas, Arlington, Getty, Facebook, UNICEF Locations: Alaska, Australia, Singapore, Southeast Asia, France, Germany, India, cryptocurrency, Vietnamese, America, catfishing, China, Cybersecurity, Australian

☆ Sextortion is fastest-growing crime targeting minors in North America – and social media companies can do more to stop it, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

NCRI, a nonprofit, found cybercriminals used the social apps Instagram, Snapchat and Wizz to find and connect with their marks. And social media platforms should include a distinct category to report sextortion — as Snapchat did in early 2023. Parents and educators should "combat the belief that photos sent on Snapchat disappear, which can create a false sense of security," the NCRI study recommends. The NCRI study also strongly criticized Wizz, concluding: "Sextortion on Wizz is pervasive and dangerous. Apple's App Store and Google Play can also help, the NCRI study suggested, by carefully monitoring complaints about sextortion associated with social media apps, and enforcing their existing policies.

Persons: cybercriminals, Wizz, Paul Raffile, Alex Goldenberg, TikTok, Scribd, sextortion, Snapchat, Goldenberg, screenshotted, General Raúl Torrez, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, — Kevin Collier, Ben Goggin Organizations: Yahoo, Network, Research, FBI, Yahoo Boys, NBC News, CNBC, NBC, Secret Service, Facebook, YouTube, Meta, gov, National Center for Locations: North America, Australia, West Africa, Michigan, Wizz, New Mexico, U.S

In China, Tencent is already doing it. Now it’s betting on Weixin Palm Payment, a biometric system launched in May for users of Weixin Pay, WeChat’s sister app. Last year, JPMorgan cited the opportunity as it announced its own payment authentication software pilot program using palm scanning. “With face scanning technology, people can look a lot like each other — like twins,” he said. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant launched its own palm scanning payment service in 2020, letting users connect their palm prints to credit cards to buy items at the company’s cashier-free stores.

Persons: China that’s, — Tencent, Guo Rizen, “, ” Guo, Tencent’s, Guo, ”, Tencent, “ We’re, Edward Santow, …, ” Santow, Kate Xue, wasn’t Organizations: China CNN, CNN, Goode Intelligence, JPMorgan, Fujitsu, University of Technology Locations: China, Shenzhen, Beijing, Seattle, Chinese, Guangdong, Supermonkey, University of Technology Sydney

☆ How to play the next stage of AI in 2024, according to Canaccord Genuity
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Canaccord Genuity is laying out some names poised to capitalize on the new stage of AI set to unfold in 2024. "As we enter 2024, we anticipate a marked shift from businesses creating AI strategies towards executing them, with a focus on measuring and delivering ROI." Here are some of the companies across sectors best situated to take advantage of the next stage of AI growth: Canccord Genuity sees a plethora of opportunities in the technology space beyond the pure play behemoths that prospered in 2024. "In the software security section of the report, we address how our coverage companies are implementing and/or enhancing AI strategies." But technology isn't the only industry poised to benefit from AI tailwinds this year and beyond.

Persons: Susan Anderson, Anderson, Genuity, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Microsoft, Nvidia, Nasdaq, Deere

☆ Leaked presentation reveals how Microsoft built one of its top AI products, from cherry picking outputs to pitching government clients
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-10 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

GPU supply problemsOriginally, Microsoft was working on its own machine-learning models for security use cases, according to the presentation by Microsoft Security Research partner Lloyd Greenwald. AdvertisementThe pitchThe pitch centered around the benefits of mostly using a single universal AI model rather than many individual models. "Today, our Early Access Program customers regularly share their satisfaction with the latest version of Security Copilot." He also mentioned ServiceNow connectors, and information from Microsoft Defender, the company's antivirus software, along with other sources of security data. It described Security Copilot as a "closed-loop learning system," that gets feedback from users and improves over time.

Persons: —, Lloyd Greenwald, Greenwald, Frank Shaw, Shaw, Microsoft's Shaw, Kevin Scott, Satya Nadella, Eric Douglas, doesn't Organizations: Service, Business, Microsoft, Microsoft Security Research, BI, Microsoft Sentinel Locations: GPT

☆ China and cybercriminals are targeting American AI companies, FBI Director Wray says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-09 | by ( Ian Thomas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

American companies like Google , Microsoft , and OpenAI are currently driving the cutting edge of generative artificial intelligence development across the globe. However two of U.S.'s top national security leaders said that AI lead is under attack from foreign cybercriminals and nation-states like China. "Eighteen of the 20 most successful AI companies in the world are American," FBI Director Christopher Wray told CNBC's Morgan Brennan during a CNBC CEO Council virtual roundtable on Tuesday. "Generative AI, in the world of cyberattacks, is what I would describe as taking kind of junior varsity athletes and making them varsity," Wray said. But while much of the discussion around AI in the cybersecurity space has centered on how AI is enhancing both attackers and defenders, Wray said the FBI is also focused on "defending American AI [research and development], American innovation in AI."

Persons: Christopher Wray, CNBC's Morgan Brennan, Wray, General Paul Nakasone, Nakasone Organizations: Google, Microsoft, CNBC, Cyber Command, National Security Agency, Central Security Service Locations: China, U.S

☆ Hackers see wealth of information to steal in children's school records
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-27 | by ( Rachel Curry | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The education community — students, teachers, parents, staff and those connected to all of them — are barraged with threats to their physical safety. Now, they're also increasingly dealing with the kind of threats that don't take lives but impact them nonetheless. Schools are "definitely not funded enough to support cyber warfare," said Josh Heller, supervisor of information security engineering at Digi International. Penn Manor School District has 5,500 students who collectively generate more than two million individual data points in the core student management system alone. Going after a student's spotless creditCybercriminals seeking ransom payouts or identity thieves going after a student's spotless credit can gain access to identifying information, assessments, assignments, grades, homework, health records, attendance history, discipline records, special education records, home communications and more.

Persons: they're, Charlie Reisinger, Josh Heller, Reisinger, Heller, Warren Young, Young Organizations: Penn Manor School District, Millersville University of Pennsylvania's, Digi International, U.S . Senate, Pennsylvania School, Absolute Software Locations: Lancaster County, Penn, U.S

☆ US sanctions cryptocurrency mixer Sinbad over alleged North Korea ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on a virtual currency mixer the Treasury Department said has processed millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from major heists carried out by North Korea-linked hackers. Lazarus, which has been sanctioned by the U.S., has been accused of carrying out some of the largest virtual currency heists to date. In March 2022, for example, it allegedly stole about $620 million in virtual currency from a blockchain project linked to the online game Axie Infinity. A virtual currency mixer is a software tool that pools and scrambles cryptocurrencies from thousands of addresses. Those that engage in certain transactions with the mixer also risk being hit with sanctions.

Persons: Lazarus, Wally Adeyemo, Sinbad, Daphne Psaledakis, Kanishka Singh, Paul Grant, Chizu Nomiyama, Paul Simao Organizations: Treasury Department, North, Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, United Nations, Blender, Treasury, Thomson Locations: United States, North Korea, heists, U.S, Finland, Netherlands

☆ CrowdStrike CEO says AI can help prevent ransomware attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Julie Coleman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz told CNBC's Jim Cramer that using artificial intelligence is important in fighting increasingly sophisticated ransomware attacks. "Right now, ransomware, on average is, $8.5 million per ransom event, which is double just over the last month." But as much as AI helps outfits like CrowdStrike, cybercriminals are also benefitting from it with "Dark AI" tools like FraudGPT. Kurtz stressed the importance of identity verification when it comes to preventing cybercrime, saying the biggest weakness is "between the keyboard and the chair," or individuals. Kurtz said this has created more business for CrowdStrike.

Persons: George Kurtz, CNBC's Jim Cramer, Kurtz Organizations: Publicly, Securities and Exchange Commission, CrowdStrike

☆ Identity management company Okta reveals far more extensive hack of its systems
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Washington, DC CNN —A September hack of popular identity management firm Okta was far more extensive than previously known and saw the hackers steal data on all users in Okta’s customer support system, the company revealed Wednesday. San Francisco-based Okta said it doesn’t have “direct knowledge or evidence” that the information stolen in the latest breach is being actively exploited by hackers. The vast majority of the information stolen by the hackers involved names and email addresses of customers, according to Okta. Last January, a prolific group of young cybercriminals breached Okta via one of the firm’s vendors in a separate security incident that was far smaller in scope, potentially affecting up to 366 customers, according to Okta. Okta’s stock plunged Wednesday morning amid the news of the latest cybersecurity incident but has since rebounded a bit.

Persons: Okta, David Bradbury, ”, cybercriminals Organizations: DC CNN, CNN Locations: Washington, San Francisco, Okta

☆ AI tools such as ChatGPT are generating a mammoth increase in malicious phishing emails
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Bob Violino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"It is not a coincidence that the launch of ChatGPT at the end of last year coincides with the timeframe in which we saw exponential growth of malicious phishing emails," Harr said. On average, 31,000 phishing attacks were sent on a daily basis, according to the research. Since the fourth quarter of 2022, there's been a 1,265% increase in malicious phishing emails , and a 967% rise in credential phishing in particular, according to a new report by cybersecurity firm SlashNext. Another reason for such a high increase in phishing attacks is because they are working, Harr said. Another good practice is to implement email filtering tools that use machine learning and AI to detect and block phishing emails.

Persons: Harr, Patrick Harr, there's, Chris Steffen, Prince of, Steffen Organizations: BEC, Enterprise Management Associates Locations: Brooklyn, New York, American, Prince of Nigeria

☆ Microsoft security executive calls generative AI a 'super power' for the field
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Julie Coleman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In a Monday interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer, Microsoft security executive Vasu Jakkal said generative artificial intelligence is essential to the company's cybersecurity business. "We have the super power of generative AI, which is helping us defend at machine speed and scale, especially given the cybersecurity talent shortage," she said. She pinpointed two types of cybersecurity threats: espionage related to geopolitics and financial cybercrime. Microsoft can use data to train its AI models to understand these threats, she said. She said Microsoft is partnering with 15,000 companies and organizations, and that 300 security vendors are building on the company's platforms.

Persons: CNBC's Jim Cramer, Vasu Jakkal, Jakkal Organizations: Microsoft

[1/3] Richard Teng, head of the Middle East and North Africa for crypto firm Binance gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 30, 2022. Teng faces an especially tough task in transforming the culture of Binance, four of the people said. Still, leading a cultural shift at Binance - a firm shaped by Zhao in his own image - would be "hugely difficult," she said. For years it dominated the crypto market, but this year has rapidly lost market share. Last month it controlled 32% of crypto spot and 50% of derivatives trading, according to crypto firm CCData, down from 55% and 62% respectively in January.

Persons: Richard Teng, Abdel Hadi Ramahi, Teng, Changpeng Zhao, Janet Yellen, Binance, Carol Alexander, Zhao, Yi He, Binance's, Simon Matthews, Richard, Matthews, FinCEN, John Reed Stark, Rajeev Bamra, OKX, Joseph Edwards, Tom Wilson, Elizabeth Howcroft, Elisa Martinuzzi, Louise Heavens Organizations: Reuters, United Arab Emirates, REUTERS, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, U.S, Treasury, University of Sussex, Investors, Treasury's, Internet Enforcement, Singapore, Abu, Abu Dhabi Global, Singapore Exchange, Moody's Investors Service, Securities, Thomson Locations: East, North Africa, Dubai, United Arab, U.S, Abu Dhabi, France, Seychelles, London

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some K-12 public schools are racing to improve protection against the threat of online attacks, but lax cybersecurity means thousands of others are vulnerable to ransomware gangs that can steal confidential data and disrupt operations. Neuberger said more districts need to take advantage of programs available that would better guard against online attackers who are increasingly targeting schools. The administration announced steps over the summer to help cash-strapped schools, which have been slow to build up cybersecurity defenses. Since August, roughly 140 districts in 32 states have signed up for the program, which provides free email security and other online threat protection, she said. James Hatz, technology coordinator for Rush City Public Schools in Minnesota, said the program arrived just in time for their district, quickly stopping 100 suspicious emails from getting to staff.

Persons: Anne Neuberger, Neuberger, “ Don’t, —, James Hatz, Hatz, cybercriminals, ” Hatz, Doug Levin, Levin, ” Organizations: WASHINGTON, Clark County School District, Minneapolis Public Schools, — that's, Cybersafe Schools, Rush City Public Schools, Amazon Web Services, Federal Communications Commission, K12 Locations: Russia, Nevada, United States, Minnesota, Virginia

☆ Ransomware targets will pay one way or another
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The White House has even considered an outright ban on firms making ransom payments. If companies can’t pay ransom, there’s no point in asking for it. ICBC’s self-identified attacker, a gang of digital extortionists called Lockbit, says ICBC paid up. Follow @AnitaRamaswamy on XCONTEXT NEWSThe Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s U.S. arm was hit by a ransomware attack that disrupted some trades in the U.S. Treasury market on Nov. 9. A senior White House official said on Oct. 31 that the U.S. government planned to lead an alliance of 40 countries in a pledge to never pay ransom to cybercriminals.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, cybercriminals, it’s, there’s, ICBC, –, reckons, John Foley, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Reuters, Industrial, Commercial Bank of China, SS, Treasuries, Companies, Caesars Entertainment, Commercial Bank of China’s, U.S . Treasury, White House, ., Thomson Locations: U.S, United States, Commercial Bank of China’s U.S

Caesars paid around $15 million in ransom to regain access to its systems from the hackers, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal. Some have been collecting evidence leading to the hackers' identities and are assisting law enforcement, according to the five insiders. The sources say that, following the September casino hacks, the FBI's investigation took on new urgency. Mandia didn't respond directly when asked whether Scattered Spider's identities were known to law enforcement. But he did say that there was no excuse for not arresting hackers who operated from the West.

Persons: Bridget Bennett, Michael Sentonas, Sentonas, Alphabet's, James Foster, Foster, cybercriminals, gona, Kevin Mandia, Mandiant, you've, Zeba Siddiqui, Raphael Satter, Christopher Bing, Chris Sanders, Claudia Parsons Organizations: MGM, MGM Resorts, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, U.S . Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, Industry, Reuters, Department of Justice, Caesars, Wall Street, Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, ex, Telegram, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, WASHINGTON, America, Palo, American, Baltimore , Maryland, United States, Newark , New Jersey, sextortion, San Francisco, Washington

Lockbit was discovered in 2020 when its eponymous malicious software was found on Russian-language cybercrime forums, leading some security analysts to believe the gang is based in Russia. The gang has not professed support for any government, however, nor has any government formally attributed it to a nation-state. "We are located in the Netherlands, completely apolitical and only interested in money," the gang says on its dark web blog. The cybercrime gang infects a victim organisation's system with ransomware - malicious software that encrypts data - and then coerces targets into paying ransom to decrypt or unlock it. On the dark web, Lockbit's blog displays an ever-growing gallery of victim organisations that is updated nearly daily.

Persons: Lockbit, cybercriminals, Zeba Siddiqui, James Pearson, Rod Nickel Organizations: FRANCISCO, LONDON, Commercial Bank of China, Boeing, ION, Thomson Locations: Russia, Netherlands, United States, ICBC's U.S, San Francisco, London

ICBC had $5.7 trillion of assets at the end of last year, making it the largest bank in the world. Photo: Cfoto/Zuma PressThere is a new reason to worry about the hardiness of the market for U.S. government debt: hackers. Cybercriminals held hostage this week a New York unit of the world’s largest bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China , disrupting trading in U.S. Treasurys. The impact was relatively minor, market participants said, but the fear wasn’t.

Persons: ICBC, Cybercriminals Organizations: Zuma, U.S, Industrial, Commercial Bank of China Locations: York

☆ Brazen ransomware attack on US unit of Chinese banking giant has financial sector on alert
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

It led to a flurry of behind-the-scenes coordination with the affected bank and across the financial sector about the threat. The hackers hit New York-based ICBC Financial Services, a subsidiary of the world’s largest bank by assets and a Chinese state-owned institution. ICBC Financial Services did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on Friday. “If China sees this as a black eye, they may demand action from the Russian government,” Liska told CNN. LockBit ransomware was the most deployed ransomware around the world in 2022, according to US cybersecurity officials.

Persons: ”, “, ” Jon Miller, Halcyon, BNY Mellon, LockBit, Allan Liska, ” Liska, JPMorgan Chase, LockBit ransomware, ” Will Thomas Organizations: CNN, Commercial Bank of, Intelligence, Financial Services, Treasury, ICBC Financial, Reuters, JPMorgan, FBI, Infrastructure Security Agency, Treasury Department Locations: Commercial Bank of China, US, York, China, Russia, United States, Iran, cybersecurity

☆ Law firm Allen & Overy hit by 'data incident'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Files Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Allen & Overy has suffered a "data incident", the London-founded law firm said on Thursday, after social media posts suggested it had been hacked by the Lockbit cybercrime gang. An Allen & Overy spokesperson said the firm had "experienced a data incident impacting a small number of storage servers", but its email and document management system had not been affected. The spokesperson also said Allen & Overy has suffered "some disruption", but that it continued to operate normally. Lockbit took credit for the hack and gave a deadline of Nov. 28 for Allen & Overy to negotiate, according to the criminal group's website on the dark web. The cyber attack on Allen & Overy follows last month's confirmation of its merger with U.S. law firm Shearman & Sterling, to create one of the world's largest legal practices.

Persons: Kacper, Overy, Lockbit, Allen, Wales –, Shearman, Sam Tobin, James Pearson, Sarah Young, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Allen, Financial Times, Overy, Overy's, Boeing, Royal, Authority, Wales, U.S, Sterling, Thomson Locations: Warsaw, London, United States, Britain, England

☆ U.S. Targets Russian Businesswoman, Saying She Helped Oligarchs Evade Sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Angus Berwick | Andrew Duehren | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Moscow’s international business center, where Garantex is based. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty ImageThe U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned a Russian businesswoman Friday who it said helped Russian oligarchs and cybercriminals use cryptocurrencies to evade U.S. sanctions. Ekaterina Zhdanova, 37, used digital currencies to facilitate large cross-border transactions, taking advantage of platforms with weak compliance controls such as a Russian crypto exchange called Garantex that the U.S. sanctioned last year, Treasury said in a statement.

Persons: Ekaterina Zhdanova Organizations: Agence France, . Treasury Department, Treasury Locations: Russian

☆ 4 ways an influx of IoT devices can create security concerns for 5G networks, and how to mitigate that risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Chris Stokel-Walker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The combination of 5G and IoT devices can be a boon for businesses. Here, experts advise how to tamp down the risks of integrating IoT devices into your 5G network. "IoT devices are appealing targets for cybercriminals because of their always-on nature," Steve Jacques, a consulting engineer at Juniper Networks, told Insider. IoT devices can integrate with the network — unless you segment them offAnother issue is that IoT devices integrate deeply with networks, passing data to and from your core network. Because of their consumer focus, many IoT devices are not designed with security in mind and may contain vulnerabilities or weak default configurations.

Persons: —, Steve Jacques, Jacques, Parm Sandhu, Sandhu, They're Organizations: Service, Trend Micro, Juniper Networks, NTT Ltd

☆ Alliance of 40 countries to vow not to pay ransom to cybercriminals, US says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Zeba Siddiqui | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

White House Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, Anne Neuberger, addresses cyber security during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. September 2, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSAN FRANCISCO, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Forty countries in a U.S.-led alliance plan to sign a pledge never to pay ransom to cybercriminals and to work toward eliminating the hackers' funding mechanism, a senior White House official said on Tuesday. The International Counter Ransomware Initiative comes as the number of ransomware attacks grows worldwide. In ransomware attacks, hackers encrypt an organization's systems and demand ransom payments in exchange for unlocking them. Partner countries will share a "black list" through the U.S. Department of Treasury that will include information on digital wallets being used to move ransomware payments, Neuberger said.

Persons: Anne Neuberger, Jonathan Ernst, Biden, Neuberger, Chainalysis, Zeba Siddiqui, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: White, Technology, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, White House, MGM Resorts International, Reuters, U.S . Department of Treasury, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, U.S, United States, Lithuania, Israel, UAE, San Francisco

☆ The US government owns $5.5 billion worth of bitcoin. Whether it holds or sells its stash could have a big impact on the token's price.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US government has seized at least $5.5 billion worth of bitcoin since 2020, according to analysts. Its stake makes it one of the world's largest crypto "whales". Whether it holds or sells its bitcoin stash could have a huge impact on the token's price. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe US government owns billions of dollars worth of bitcoin – and whether it decides to hold or sell could have a big impact on the cryptocurrency's price. Lower volatility means that whales can drive big swings all by themselves – so what the government decides to do with its $5.5 billion stash could have a major impact on bitcoin's price.

Persons: —, James Zhong, Sam Bankman Organizations: Service, Washington, Wall Street Locations: Washington, Coinbase

Search resuls for: "Cybercriminals"

25 mentions found