Today it was revealed that Lenovo has been installing a piece of adware called "Superfish" which uses an SSL man in the middle attack to replace ads served to users and potentially engage in all kinds of other evil. Abuse of unaware users who run Microsoft Windows by computing vendors has a long history which includes many other notable episodes such as Sony proposing a lack of factory bloatware as a premium option to the entire existence of the venture known as "WildTangent." Continue reading
Category Archives: News
CoinTelegraph: CCN and NewsBTC Advertising Yet Another Scam
In a new article on CoinTelegraph Allen Scott alleges that CryptoCoinsNews and NewsBTC have both been promoting a scam where they advertise a fraud operation which buys bitcoins at above market prices using hacked Paypal accounts before the scam operators stop paying for the bitcoins they "buy" at all. These new allegations come on the heels of CCN and NewsBTC both serving as major advertising partners for the GAW "miners" scam.
Scotland Takes Symbolic Step Towards Online Independence
The Register reports that the Scottish government has moved its online home from 'scotland.gov.uk' to 'gov.scot' in a move that pleases the leadership of the Scottish National Party. Last year a ballot initiative which would have opened the path for Scotland to render the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' instead merely the 'United Kingdom of Lower Britain and Northern Ireland' was defeated. Continued nationalist sentiment and dissatisfaction with English governance has left London forced to continue throwing money at Scotland in an effort to bribe the Scottish people into docility. Continue reading
Your Disk Controller and You
A recent publication by Kaspersky Lab (mirror) describes the first publicly-confirmed instance of a Microsoft Windows 'trojan' capable of infecting hard disk drive firmware. For every word that's been written on the subject so far, ten thousand words of disinformation, FUD, and general-purpose obscurantist rubbish are floating about – eagerly passed around by spambots disguised as 'independent bloggers' and fleshy meat-puppets alike. Expect no shortage of 'product' from the well-funded – but, interestingly, not especially competent – FUD agency charged with spreading confusion and misplaced skepticism after this and every other Snowden-related tidbit. Continue reading
Vermont Bitcoin ATM Cease and Desist Requested
On January 12th Blu-Bin, a Burlington-based 3D printing business, received a cease and desist letter asking for the shutdown of the state's only Bitcoin ATM. The number of Bitcoin ATMs throughout the world is booming significantly, although concerns of the privacy of the individuals using these machines have arisen. The US has attempted to heavily regulate Bitcoin ATMs with KYC, thus usage of one sometimes requires personal data such as a social security number, a palm print or taking a picture of the user's face. Continue reading
CAVIRTEX Shutting Down, Withdrawals "Temporarily Disabled"
CAVIRTEX, Canada's most prominent CAD-BTC exchange and staunch advocate for government regulation, announced earlier today that it will cease operations effective March 25th, 2015. Continue reading
British Darkmarket Ricin Arrest
A British man, Mohammed Ammer Ali, was arrested after allegedly attempting to buy ricin powder. He however was transacting with an FBI agent who fraudulently sent 5 vials of harmless white powder that was not the ricin he was alleged to have paid $500 for. The counterfeit ricin was marketed as actual ricin on a darkmarket website and delivered to Mister Ali hidden inside of a toy car. Ali is a father of two who is now facing charges under the United Kingdom's Chemical Weapons Act for receiving a toy car full of a substance that was not ricin at all. Continue reading
Up To One Billion in Fiat Value Stolen From Banks
Kaspersky Labs in a report to be released soon will allege that up to a Billion United States Dollars in fiat value appears to have been stolen in an operation that has persisted since at least late 2013. Unlike in many similar thefts, this one directly targeted the banks themselves rather than customer accounts. More than 100 banks spread across 30 countries have been affected. The thieves' modus operadi involves stealing up to 10 million dollars from each targeted bank before moving on to the next target. Continue reading
Elizabeth Warren Balks on Opportunity to Act on Federal Reserve Criticisms
Reason Magazine via the Wall Street Journal reports that freshman Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has come out against legislation proposed by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul to audit the Federal Reserve. This is in spite of the fact that in the past she has called for investigations into corruption in the Federal Reserve banks. Continue reading
PseudoNode Proxy Fools Bitcoin Full Node Incentive Program
Vessennes' Bitcoin Foundation recently sponsored a full node incentive program that pays full nodes registered with a Bitcoin address weekly if deemed eligible. The incentive program's goal is to estimate the size of the Bitcoin network by finding all reachable nodes running bitcoind version 0.8 or higher, likely in an attempt to lower the barrier necessary for a possible fork. Continue reading