08 February 2019 16:59, UTC

A California man is first to receive jail time for SIM hijacking scheme (The Verge)

A 20-year-old American hacker Joel Ortiz admitted to stealing information from around 40 people which allowed him to steal millions in cryptocurrencies. A young man has now been sentenced to 10 years in prison as part of a plea deal. Authorities believe that Californian may be the first person to receive imprisonment for launching a SIM hijacking scheme. The method involved transferring a phone number to a different SIM card, without the owner’s approval. This gave hacker an opportunity to take over the victim’s accounts by intercepting the authentication texts.

Blockchain Analysis Links Hamas Fundraising to Coinbase Bitcoin Account (Coindesk)

Israel’s Whitestream, a blockchain analytics firm, has identified several bitcoin wallet addresses that Hamas media channels referred to when requesting for donations to support “the resistance”. There are also several signs indicating that the Palestinian military-political group, which is considered a terrorist organization by many states, including the U.S., may be using the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange for fundraising. Although Hamas was not the first Islamic extremist organization to collect money via cryptocurrency, Whitestream’s experts say that only 2 percent of the overall bitcoin transactions are connected to terrorist or criminal activity.

Opera Now Allows Android Users Buy Crypto Directly from Its Browser Built-In Wallet (Coinspeaker)

A new cryptocurrency buying service for Android users was recently presented by the Norwegian company Opera, which is known for making web browsers for mobile phones and PCs. The feature is currently available for the residents of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. To access the instant purchase function, users must first be signed up to BankID or NemoID electronic identification systems that operate on these territories. The launch of the browser-integrated wallet became possible after the collaboration with European crypto exchange Safello. As a result, users are allowed to make secure payments with credit and debit cards, along with some trusted payment networks.

Will Offline Transactions be The Next Evolution For Bitcoin? (News BTC)

BTC transactions can become truly offline via new technology recently presented by GoTenna. The American company has invented a new hardware device called TxTenna, which can broadcast bitcoin transactions to a local mesh network of connected devices even without an Internet connection. In the age when a global network is experiencing censorship times, the new device can be really useful in some countries. The battery-powered device along with a Blockstream Satellite Receiver enables anyone to send and receive Bitcoin and get real-time data without being connected to the internet or even electricity.

Be careful what you write on Slack: Hackers are targeting your office gossip (MarketWatch)

Cybersecurity experts warn Slack users to be more cautious because ransomware attacks are on the rise. The new harmful malware can encrypt data until victims pay up or will blackmail their victims threatening to make some private information like compromising photos, chats and emails public. Crypto enthusiasts are primarily at risk because hackers often demand payments in digital currencies in order to allow the user to regain control over the important data. These transactions make things much easier for blackmailers and way harder for law enforcement authorities. And though experts in cybersecurity rarely recommend paying any ransoms, this won’t bring your data back.

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