At-A-Glance
- Crypto thieves stole $70 million from Israeli exchanges since 2018
- Webcomic Bulltardia is hiding keys to free bitcoin
- You can purchase bitcoin at your local pharmacy
Cryptocurrency cyber gang stole $70m. in Israel — report
The Jerusalem Post
A group of cyber thieves likely operating out of Ukraine or Russia has stolen $70 million from Israeli cryptocurrency exchanges over the past two years, Clearsky Cyber Security reported this week. The gang, given the name “CryptoCore,” has hit other exchanges to the tune of $200 million, Clearsky said. The thieves tend to focus their activities on the US and Japan.
CryptoCore first chooses a target such as Coinbase or Binance. Then, they instigate spear-phishing attacks on executives’ email accounts.
The spear-phishing is typically carried out by impersonating a high-ranking employee either from the target organization or from another organization (e.g. advisory board) with connections to the targeted employee.”
After gaining a foothold within the system, “the group’s primary objective is obtaining access to the victim’s password manager account. This is where the keys of crypto-wallets and other valuable assets — which will come handy in lateral movement stages — are stored.”
Moreover, getting that access means that “the group will remain undetected and maintain persistence until the multi-factor authentication of the exchange wallets will be removed,” so it can steal funds.
Interestingly, the group’s activities have decreased dramatically in the first half of 2020, perhaps due to coronavirus restrictions.
Bitcoin-Inspired Webcomic Bulltardia Hides 10 Million Satoshi Prize
CoinTelegraph
Who’s up for a treasure hunt? The seed phrase for a Bitcoin wallet containing 0.1 BTC is hidden among the panels of a webcomic called Bulltardia. You’ll need twelve keys all totaled to complete the phrase. You can read the first four episodes here.
Comic author Dim Zayan promises you don’t have to care about bitcoin to enjoy the story, despite the fact that “most of the talking animals and places you’re about to discover are based on real people and events that relate to the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.”
As one may have noticed from the episode titles alone, the Bitcoin inspiration is strong.
There is a shadowy collector flanked by bodyguard bears, imprisoning those who conspire against the oppressive “holy church of fiat” and pray to the moon.
And then there is the petulant honey badger hero called Bit, who won’t do favors for free and is a bit of a brat, all told. He gets sent on a mission by his father, Satoshi, to return a moonstone (bearing a Bitcoin B) to the moon and hopefully grow up a bit on the journey.
0.1 BTC, or about $940, isn’t a massive fortune, but the comic is a fun read, and the art is really great. Put your sleuth hat on and get to reading!
You Can Now Buy Bitcoin At CVS, 7-Eleven, Rite-Aid
Forbes
If you’ve ever found yourself lamenting your inability to purchase bitcoin as you rang up your Slurpee and SlimJims, rejoice! Bitcoin ATM operator LibertyX is bringing bitcoin purchasing to 20,000 retail locations across the United States, including shops like 7-Eleven, CVS Pharmacy, and Rite-Aid. LibertyX already had 5,000 Bitcoin ATMs in place around the country.
The process, as described in a press release from LibertyX, sounds incredibly easy:
To use the feature, LibertyX customers need to download the free app, enter a Bitcoin address for deposits, find a participating retailer near them and select “Add cash now,” and go to the retailer to pay in cash for the amount they want to add. From here, the cashier will then scan a barcode on the app to credit its owner’s account with the amount purchased, and then they can finally convert this credited balance to bitcoin on the app and have it deposited into their Bitcoin wallet.
After this initial rollout, the transaction will include a conversion fee in addition to the $4.95 service fee. LibertyX is waiving the conversion fee until the end of July.
That’s the roundup for June 27, 2020. Check in next week for the latest news of cryptocurrency innovation and regulation around the world!
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