Ransomware

On Tuesday 21st September, the US treasury announced that it would sanction the SUEX exchange. According to the treasury, SUEX took part in Ransomware activities.  The government has been fighting against such attacks for several years. However, its efforts have been futile due to the lack of international support. US Treasury Sanctions Crypto Exchanges In a public release, the US Treasury recently announced sanctions on SUEX. Comprehensively, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) proposed the recent sanctions. The OFAC linked SUEX to eight…

A new report from Chainalysis has indicated that the share of crypto transactions linked to criminal activities fell in 2020. According to the report, the percentage reduced from 2.1 recorded in 2019 to only 0.34. However, ransomware attacks have tripled in volumes when compared to what was recorded in 2019. A major drop in cryptocurrency criminal activities So often, regulators and mainstream media point out that criminals use cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Although the argument has been proven false in recent…

It seems scammers are leveraging the current situation surrounding COVID-19 pandemic to swindle more people as more users filed reports on Bitcoin extortion last month. Reports filed by users of BitcoinAbuse.com database surged by 1,300 percent in April. People are allowed to report suspected criminal cases related to Bitcoin extortion on BitcoinAbuse.com. According to the website’s founder Alan Reed, the website was established in response to the WannaCry ransomware. Since the beginning of this year, 68,000 reports with 21,000 unique Bitcoin addresses…

The world first heard of cryptocurrencies in 2009. Despite the initial skepticism over the digital coins and blockchain technology needed, the world slowly grew warm to the idea of decentralized currencies. With time, cryptocurrencies have attracted an increasingly massive number of global users. However, as the crypto industry continues to gain popularity, the chances of crypto cybercrimes increase. Cybercriminals are using ransomware-like tactics from various target devices to secretly mine cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency mining became a lucrative business as cryptocurrencies grew…

A British court ordered Bitfinex to hold up to Bitcoins worth $860k. It was after finding out that there were cryptocurrencies for a ransomware payment. Bitfinex and Chainalysis traced the Bitcoins with almost a million dollars back to ransomware payment. England and Wales High Court ordered the exchange to hold up the address and reveal its Know Your Customer (KYC) information. Chainalysis software got used when tracking the stolen funds. More on the Court Order An anonymous company got affected…