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Crypto regulatory compliance automation firm Astra raises US$9 million in a private token sale

The cryptocurrency regulation requirements will only grow with time, and there are now services like the Astra Protocol that are offering automated compliance layer over digital asset trades. To continue its development, Astra has...

Daniel Zlatev, 23 Dec 2021 15:52

Amazon account banned on Amazon-owned Twitch

Twitch has strict community guidelines, and they seem to work better than the legislation of many countries in the world. The official Spanish-language Amazon Prime Video channel was suspended from Twitch (which is owned by Amazon...

Codrut Nistor, 22 Dec 2021 17:16

Meta has accused several surveillance companies of hacking and other data abuses. (Image source: Pexels via Pixabay)

Meta calls out private surveillance companies for attempting to hack around 50,000 accounts

A report released by Meta reveals that several spy firms have targeted approximately 50,000 Facebook users to gain personal information, potentially for use in later phishing attacks. A total of seven surveillance companies were n...

Polly Allcock, 19 Dec 2021 17:36

Hackers tweet that India has accepted Bitcoin as official currency from PM Modi's account

India is currently working on a comprehensive cryptocurrency legislation to regulate the digital assets market in the country which may lead to an outright Bitcoin ban. The final say will be on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose ...

Daniel Zlatev, 13 Dec 2021 11:10

The Apache log4j vulnerability can potentially be used by threat actors to hack into Steam, Twitter, and other services (Image source: Panda Security)

Apache Log4j zero-day exploit could be used by hackers to target users on Steam, Twitter, Amazon, and other platforms

A zero-day exploit was recently identified within the Apache log4j logging library, which can potentially be used by hackers to take over entire servers via logging messages. The vulnerability affects a number of online services, ...

Arjun Krishna Lal, 12 Dec 2021 23:59

Amazon was fined €1.1 billion by Italy's antitrust authority (AGCM) for misusing its hold on the online shopping market. (Image: Brian Angelo via Unsplash)

Amazon receives €1.1 billion fine in Italy for exploiting its market dominance

Amazon was penalized by Italy's antitrust authority (AGCM) for misusing its market dominance. The AGCM fined the company €1.1 billion and stated that Amazon coaxed Italian shops to use its shipping service by promising perks such ...

Aleem Ali, 11 Dec 2021 19:03

Jury orders Craig Wright, the self-proclaimed Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto, to pay US$100 million in intellectual property theft

The verdict in the Kleiman v. Wright lawsuit, sometimes called the "Satoshi Nakamoto trial," is in, and Mr. Wright has to pay US$100 million in intellectual property damages to the plaintiff. Filed by the heirs of the deceased Dav...

Daniel Zlatev, 09 Dec 2021 12:45

Cryptocurrency execs testify before U.S. Congress, warn 'onerous' regulation may have a 'chilling' industry effect

Alesia Haas, the CEO of Coinbase Inc., is testifying before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services alongside five other crypto exchange representatives for the first time. In prepared testimonies, the cryptocurrency platfo...

Daniel Zlatev, 08 Dec 2021 20:16

The US Patent and Trademark Office is set to grant Clearview AI a patent for its facial recognition software. (Image source: Tumisu via Pixabay)

Clearview is one step closer to getting a US patent for its facial recognition software

A patent filed by Clearview AI for part of its facial recognition technology is set to be granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Clearview's software is already being used by several bodies in the US, including the FBI.

Polly Allcock, 07 Dec 2021 00:51

The Stop Grinch Bots Act could potentially make it easier to buy consoles like the PlayStation 5 (Image source: Sony)

Members of the US Congress introduce "Stopping Grinch Bots Act" to penalize predatory scalping and potentially ease supply issues for the PlayStation 5 and graphics cards

Members of Congress recently introduced the Stopping Grinch Bots Act. If it passes through, this piece of legislation could make it illegal for scalpers to use bots and scripts to hoard electronics for resale.

Arjun Krishna Lal, 04 Dec 2021 12:30

Eligible Zoom users in the US can now claim up to US$25 as part of a class-action lawsuit settlement. (Image Source: Gadgets 360)

Paid Zoom users between March 2016 and July 2021 eligible for US$25 class-action settlement, free users US$15

Users of the popular Zoom video conferencing app between March 2016 and July 2021 can now file for compensation as part of a class-action lawsuit which the company has decided to settle outside of court for US$85 million. Accordin...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 03 Dec 2021 15:34

Crypto exchange execs to face Congress for the first time as the SEC pushes registration

Maxine Waters (D-CA), the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, has scheduled a December 8 Congressional hearing titled the "Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of...

Daniel Zlatev, 02 Dec 2021 13:31

The Fed issues 'crypto sprint' roadmap for the new cryptocurrency regulation and tax law guidance

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have issued a joint statement clarifying the next steps in the US cryptocurrency regulation...

Daniel Zlatev, 24 Nov 2021 16:32

Cryptocurrencies will soon be regulated in India

Indian government to introduce new cryptocurrency-specific laws soon

The Indian government will finally address the burgeoning cryptocurrency issue in the Winter Session of parliament. It plans to regulate crypto-related transactions in the country. A state-backed digital currency is also said to b...

Anil Ganti, 24 Nov 2021 09:11

Due to the new law that includes mandatory reports of crypto transactions, the IRS could confiscate a record amount of cryptocurrencies in the coming years (Image: Bermix Studio)

Hundreds of newly hired IRS special agents could hunt down crypto criminals in the US as the authority expects to seize cryptocurrencies worth billions of dollars due to new taxation law

The US tax authority, also known as the Internal Revenue Service, anticipates seizing a record amount of cryptocurrencies in 2022. Such seizures could be conducted by hundreds of newly hired special agents, who would investigate c...

Enrico Frahn, 18 Nov 2021 21:40

China's totalitarian government has punished an official who violated the infamous cryptomining ban (Image: Reuters)

Politician who violated China's cryptomining ban is punished by getting expelled from communist party

The Chinese government strictly enforces recent bans in regard to cryptomining and financial transactions involving cryptocurrencies, and it has now caught and punished one of its own officials who allegedly accepted bribes from c...

Enrico Frahn, 17 Nov 2021 00:36

Fortnite fails to get approval in China and the game's Chinese servers have shut down. (Image source: Epic Games)

Fortnite quits China as the Chinese government tightens regulations of the games industry

Chinese servers of the popular game Fortnite stopped working on November 15 after the game failed to get approval from the Chinese government. This marks the end of Fortnite's three-year limited trial run in the country. Fortnite'...

Fawad Murtaza, 16 Nov 2021 19:35

Biden signs crypto taxation into law, but a new bill aims to set exemption for miners

A bipartisan group of Senators has reintroduced a last-ditch amendment bill to exempt entities like miners or wallet developers from being considered crypto transaction brokers, stifling digital asset innovation. Under the new cry...

Daniel Zlatev, 16 Nov 2021 17:07

A lawsuit may finally reveal who is Satoshi Nakamoto, the alleged inventor of Bitcoin

According to the heirs of one David Kleiman, he co-created the Bitcoin protocol together with another programmer, Craig Wright, and is entitled to half of the one million bitcoins their partnership created. They have filed a lawsu...

Daniel Zlatev, 14 Nov 2021 22:59

The newly discovered malware puts millions of IoT devices at risk (Image source: Packetlabs)

Open source Botenago malware could potentially affect millions of routers and IoT devices

Written in Google's own open source Golang programming language, Botenago could potentially affect millions of routers connected to the internet as well as IoT devices.

Arjun Krishna Lal, 13 Nov 2021 14:23

Cryptocurrency regulation vote deadline urged by the European Commission

The European Commissioner for Financial Services urged EU members and the European Parliament to agree on a crypto regulation proposal by November's end. Some EP members expressed skepticism about the deadline, indicating that it'...

Daniel Zlatev, 12 Nov 2021 18:27

While its creators are unknown, Phonespy appears to offer similar capabilities to NSO Group's infamous Pegasus spyware (Image source: NSO)

Phonespy surveillance software mimics Pegasus and was spotted stealing data from thousands of South Korean Android users

A newly discovered mobile surveillance tool, Phonespy, appears to offer hackers and governments similar capabilities to NSO's Pegasus. Researchers found that Phonespy was being used by unknown actors to monitor and steal data from...

Arjun Krishna Lal, 11 Nov 2021 11:04

European Union toughens its stance against anti-competitive US tech firms as the General Court dismisses Google's appeal against a US$2.8 billion fine

European Union’s General Court has rejected Google’s appeal against a US$2.8 billion fine that the company had received in 2017. The fine was the result of the European Commission’s verdict that Google had broken antitrust law by ...

Fawad Murtaza, 10 Nov 2021 23:59

Crypto taxation passes with the House infrastructure bill, time to sort those Shiba Inu coin gains

Congress finally passed the new infrastructure bill with its provisions to tax cryptocurrency transactions essentially unchanged. Pending IRS and Treasury Department guidance, any digital asset class deal above US$10,000 may now h...

Daniel Zlatev, 06 Nov 2021 15:36

The Discord CDN network is apparently being abused to send malware masquerading as images, video, or text (Image source: Discord)

Hackers are using Discord to send malware and remote-access trojans, putting millions of users at risk

A report by RiskIQ indicates that hackers are abusing the Discord CDN to in a range of ways to send users over 27 different types of malware, including remote access trojans that allow them to gain control of victims' devices.

Arjun Krishna Lal, 30 Oct 2021 17:44

Ransomware group REvil taken down by the FBI

Ransomware group involved in the Colonial Pipeline attack hacked by the FBI

REvil, a Russian-led ransomware group that was involved in the Colonial Pipeline attack, has been hacked and its website was taken down by the FBI. The bureau, along with the Secret Service and partner countries, managed to infilt...

Fawad Murtaza, 26 Oct 2021 19:59

AvosLocker reportedly stole sensitive customer information from Gigabyte (Image source: Panda Security)

Gigabyte hit by ransomware attack: NDA’d information and customer details leak out with hackers threatening worse

A ransomware attack by a group called AvosLocker reportedly hit Gigabyte. As a result of the attack, sensitive information including customer credit card details, NDA'd agreements with Gigabyte partners, and employee payroll infor...

Arjun Krishna Lal, 24 Oct 2021 14:10

The U.S. will soon ban the export of cybersecurity tools to specific countries and entities. (Image via U.S. Department of Commerce)

United States to ban export of cybersecurity tools and software to countries with "authoritarian practices"

A new rule from the U.S. Department of Commerce prohibits the sale or export of cybersecurity-related software and hardware to specific countries. Citing national security and anti-terrorism reasons, the rule bans exports to gover...

Sam Medley, 21 Oct 2021 06:40

Lawmakers from the US House of Representatives threaten Amazon with criminal investigation

US lawmakers threaten Amazon with a criminal probe over the company's alleged misuse of third-party seller data and search result manipulation

US lawmakers from the House of Representatives have written a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy demanding evidence in support of the company's 2020 congressional testimony. Recently, reports from Reuters and The Markup alleged that ...

Fawad Murtaza, 21 Oct 2021 02:42

Acer India has been hit by a major security breach. (Image Source: Unsplash)

Major security breach hits Acer affecting millions of Indian users, hacking group claims responsibility

Acer's Indian servers have been breached by the hacker group Desorden, who claim to have access to 60 GB of sensitive corporate information and financial data. The group also claimed to release data of millions of Acer customers f...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 18 Oct 2021 02:28

Steam will no longer feature games that issue NFTs and crypto to users (Image source: Steam)

Valve gets rid of all blockchain, crypto, and NFT games on the Steam platform

In a recent policy change, Valve decided that the Steam platform would no longer support games built on blockchain technology that let users receive or exchange crypto or NFT assets, raising questions about the future of player-ow...

Arjun Krishna Lal, 16 Oct 2021 17:57

Ransomware attacks may have cost businesses over US$5 billion in losses this year (Image source: Kaspersky)

US FinCEN watchdog reports that companies may have forked out nearly US$600 million in ransomware payments through 2021

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network stated that so far in 2021, crypto exchange and financial institutions have reported nearly US$600 million in transactions to pay ransomware attackers. This is signifcantly higher than 2020...

Arjun Krishna Lal, 16 Oct 2021 13:48

Social platforms are no longer shielded by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. (Image: Austin Distel)

US Energy and Commerce Committee reveals legislation that holds social platforms accountable for 'malicious algorithms'

The US Energy and Commerce Committee has announced an amendment to Section 230 that previously shielded social platforms from liability. Thus, these companies will now be held accountable for algorithms that recommend harmful cont...

Aleem Ali, 16 Oct 2021 02:19

The class-action suit alleges that there were “shortcomings” in the way DeepMind handled sensitive NHS data (Image source: Google)

Google DeepMind gets hit by a class-action lawsuit for “shortcomings” in how it handled over 1.6 million NHS patient records

Google’s AI department was recently hit by a class-action lawsuit in the UK, because of possible irregularities in the way that it received and handled the data of over 1.6 million NHS patients from the Royal Free London NHS Found...

Arjun Krishna Lal, 14 Oct 2021 16:05

The White House prepares to regulate cryptocurrency trading

President Biden's administration may soon issue an executive order on crypto trading that will be a coordinated regulation push by all government agencies involved - from the Treasury Department to the national security ones.

Daniel Zlatev, 11 Oct 2021 12:24

The sale of cryptocurrency miners are no longer permitted on Alibaba

Alibaba bans all cryptocurrency miner sales on its platform

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has just announced a ban on cryptocurrency miners and related paraphernalia on its website. Sales will be allowed till October 8, following which the listings will be deleted on October 15.

Anil Ganti, 28 Sep 2021 11:49

With its ban of all crypto transactions, China is continuing its fight against popular virtual currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum (Image: Jievani Weerasinghe)

China's central bank bans all crypto transactions, Bitcoin price falls

After the totalitarian country has already banned crypto mining a few months ago, the new regulations also prohibit all financial transactions that involve cryptocurrencies like the popular Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Enrico Frahn, 24 Sep 2021 20:08

This feature is turned off by default in the EU. (Source: Caixin Global)

Xiaomi flagship phones sold in Europe can reportedly detect and censor anti-Chinese government sentiments

Xiaomi appears to be shipping some phones in Europe with a feature that potentially allows the detection and censoring of anti-Chinese Communist Party phrases. The feature is, of course, turned off but that's unlikely to assuage d...

Ricci Rox, 22 Sep 2021 20:56

Navalny’s Умное Голосование (“Vote Smart”) app was taken down by Google and Apple (Image source:Vote Smart)

Apple and Google employees reportedly faced political coercion and prosecution threats in Russia over opposition voting app

With Russia’s parliamentary elections ongoing, Apple and Google removed a voting app published by opposition leader Alexei Navalny, reported under pressure from the Kremlin, setting a worrying precedent for other international tec...

Arjun Krishna Lal, 19 Sep 2021 11:14

Aukey is one of the brands that’s been affected by the Amazon cleanup op (Image source: Aukey)

After Aukey and RAVPower, Amazon drops the ban hammer on over 600 Chinese electronics brands for fraudulent reviews

In an effort to clamp down on fake and compensated reviews, Amazon has banned over 3000 merchant accounts, connected to approximately 600 Chinese technology brands.

Arjun Krishna Lal, 19 Sep 2021 10:36

Indian Government working on a bill that could ban all VPN services in the country

The Indian Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs wants the Government to ban VPN services in India. It cites a rise in cybercrime and the fact that one can assess the 'dark web' using a VPN as the reasons.

Anil Ganti, 01 Sep 2021 23:31

The Chinese Government has it made it harder for minors to play online games

China further restricts minors' gaming time to one hour a day for three days a week

The Chinese Government has introduced a new rule that will allow minors to play online games for an hour on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays between 8 PM and 9 PM. It is also working with game developers, teachers and ...

Anil Ganti, 30 Aug 2021 17:40

Several popular mobile apps could get banned in Bangladesh soon

Bangladesh could soon ban PUBG Mobile, Garena Free Fire, TikTok, and other apps for three months

The Bangladesh High Court has asked the government to ban popular mobile apps such as PUBG Mobile, Garena Free Fire, TikTok, Likee and Bigo Live for three months. The court claims that the apps affect the country's youth, giving t...

Anil Ganti, 17 Aug 2021 19:39

The Mi Mix 4 was leaked comprehensively before release. (Source: Xiaomi)

Leak inquisition continues as Xiaomi hits media company with US$155k fine for Mi Mix 4 leak

Xiaomi has now continued its war against leaks by slamming a media company with a huge US$155k fine for leaking the Mi Mix 4 before launch last week. This comes after similar moves by Samsung and Apple to restrict an industry that...

Ricci Rox, 15 Aug 2021 13:44

When it comes to child abuse, Apple draws a clear line despite its commitment to user privacy (Image: Apple, edited)

Apple will scan iMessages and iCloud photos to fight child abuse

Apple released details on the controversial steps it will take to fight child abuse in the United States. Privacy advocates strongly criticized Apple's plans, even though other tech companies have been using similar technologies f...

Enrico Frahn, 06 Aug 2021 20:55

Tencent has imposed new restrictions on a portion of its Chinese player base

Tencent will let minors play Honor of Kings only for an hour on weekdays

Chinese behemoth Tencent has enacted new measures to curb gaming addiction among minors. People under 18 will now be allowed to play Honor of Kings only for an hour on weekdays and two hours on weekends/public holidays. There are ...

Anil Ganti, 04 Aug 2021 22:34

The entire FIFA 21 source code has been leaked online

Hackers dump FIFA 21 source code online after failing to find any buyers

A group of hackers that hoped to make a quick buck by selling FIFA 21's source code have now dumped the whole thing online weeks after nobody expressed interest in buying it. The code in question didn't have any personal informati...

Anil Ganti, 02 Aug 2021 22:02

Dogecoin enjoyed over 20,000% increase in a year but has been crashing hard lately. (Image source: CoinMarketCap/Imgflip - edited)

Dogecoin co-creator puts the boot into the cryptocurrency industry and calls it an "inherently right-wing, hyper-capitalistic technology"

One of the co-creators of Dogecoin, Jackson Palmer, has been sharing some very strong opinions about the cryptocurrency industry and its involvement with “a network of shady business connections, bought influencers and pay-for-pla...

Daniel R Deakin, 20 Jul 2021 09:40

Hackers stole nearly 1TB of sensitive data (Image source: Panda Security)

Data breach at Electronic Arts sees source code for the Frostbite engine fall into the hands of hackers

Following the security incident at CD Projekt Red, it appears that Electronic Arts is dealing with the aftermath of a data breach. Hackers have reportedly made away with nearly 1 Terabyte of sensitive data, including the source co...

Arjun Krishna Lal, 12 Jun 2021 13:41

The RockYou2021 compilation is a single 100 GB file. (Image source: Markus Spiske)

RockYou2021 compilation leaks between 8.4 billion and 82 billion passwords

Someone has posted a 100 GB TXT file to a hacker forum that contains up to 82 billion passwords. According to a report, the number of unique entries may only be 8.4 billion, but it still significantly increases the risk of passwor...

Alex Alderson, 09 Jun 2021 19:33