The U.K. Government is seeking to keep most of the $7 billion in Bitcoin it seized in connection with a Chinese investment fraud, following the conviction of the fraud’s alleged organizer this week.
Zhimin Qian pleaded guilty on counts of possessing and transferring criminal property at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, following last year’s conviction of her assistant Seng Hok Ling (also known as Jian Wen) on similar counts. This conviction now raises the question of who will keep the 61,000 BTC originally seized by UK authorities in 2018, with upwards of 120,000 victims in China seeking compensation for their losses.
Read more…
Source: Decrypt News
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Cryptocurrency Mining Malware Infected Over Half-Million PCs Using NSA Exploit
January 31, 2018
2017 was the year of high profile data breaches and ransomware attacks, but from the beginning of this year, we are noticing a faster-paced shift in the cyber threat landscape, as cryptocurrency-related malware is becoming a popular and profitable choice of cyber criminals. Several cybersecurity firms are reporting of new cryptocurrency mining viruses that are being ...
- Digital Extortion: A Forward-looking View
January 30, 2018
In 2017, we saw digital extortion increasingly become cybercriminals’ first and foremost money-making modus operandi. It’s mostly due to ransomware — cybercriminals’ currently most popular weapon of choice, helping them in extorting cash from users all over the world and in hitting big businesses and organizations. By infecting business-critical systems through their shotgun-style ransomware attacks and ...
- Ploutus.D Malware Variant Used in U.S.-based ATM Jackpotting Attacks
January 29, 2018
The United States Secret Service issued a warning on Friday to financial institutions citing “credible information” about “planned” attacks against U.S. cash machines using malware that can quickly drain ATM machines dry of cash. The warning came a day after ATM maker Diebold Nixdorf also warned its customers of “potential” ATM Jackpotting attacks moving from Mexico to the U.S. But journalist Brian ...
- Ransomware: Is time running out for the biggest menace on the web?
January 26, 2018
Ransomware attacks like WannaCry and Petya caused major chaos last year, while the likes of Locky and Cerber were less high-profile, but still managed to generate large amounts of income for their criminal creators. 2017 was the year of ransomware, but it could be that the file-encrypting malware has already reached its peak, as an analysis of cybercriminal campaigns appears to show that malicious ...
- Satori Author Linked to New Mirai Variant Masuta
January 23, 2018
Researchers at NewSky Security say the hacker behind a Mirai malware variant called Satori, also known as Mirai Okiru, is the same hacker behind two new Mirai variants called Masuta and PureMasuta. Based on source code for Masuta malware recently found on the dark web, researchers at NewSky Security said they were able to connect the ...
- Nearly Half of the Norway Population Exposed in HealthCare Data Breach
January 21, 2018
Cybercriminals have stolen a massive trove of Norway’s healthcare data in a recent data breach, which likely impacts more than half of the nation’s population. An unknown hacker or group of hackers managed to breach the systems of Health South-East Regional Health Authority (RHF) and reportedly stolen personal info and health records of some 2.9 million ...