Risk of Bitcoin Hacks and Losses Is Very Real
When hackers penetrated a secure authentication system at a bitcoin exchange called Bitfinex earlier this month, they stole about $70 million worth of the virtual currency. The cyber theft—the second largest by an exchange since hackers took roughly $350 million in bitcoins at Tokyo’s MtGox exchange in early 2014—is hardly a rare occurrence in the emerging world of crypto-currencies.
New data shows a third of bitcoin trading platforms have been hacked, and nearly half have closed in the half dozen years since they burst on the scene. This rising risk for bitcoin holders is compounded by the fact there is no depositor’s insurance to absorb the loss, even though many exchanges act like virtual banks.
“I am skeptical there’s going to be any technological silver bullet that’s going to solve security breach problems. No technology, crypto-currency, or financial mechanism can be made safe from hacks,” said Tyler Moore, assistant professor of cybersecurity at the University of Tulsa’s Tandy School of Computer Science, who will soon publish the new research on the vulnerability of bitcoin exchanges.
His study, funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, shows that since bitcoin’s creation in 2009 to March 2015, 33% of all bitcoin exchanges operational during that period were hacked. The figure represents one of the first estimates of the extent of security breaches in the bitcoin world. [Source: Fortune]
Green Bay’s most common crime drops by 40 percent in 60 days
A Green Bay Police crackdown on shoplifting — the city’s most widespread and common crime — is paying off. Reports of retail theft have gone down substantially: about forty percent, according to the Chief of Police Andrew Smith.
Sixty days ago, police began holding meetings for area stores to communicate shoplifting trends to one another. Retention specialist teams in big stores investigate who is shoplifting what items, as well as when — and how to stop a thief. It’s helpful to all stores, but especially ones without retention resources. “We talk about the design of the store, or the fact that they have somebody at the front greeting, somebody maybe checking packages as people are leaving,” Smith said.
Police also stepped up the consequences for someone caught stealing. “In the old days we would hand them a slip of paper and say here’s your ticket, you need to go to court on this day down the road,” said the chief. “Now, we’re taking them, giving them that ticket, but first we’re bringing them down to the police station, we’re photographing them, we’re finger printing them, we’re making sure we know exactly who this person is and that there’s some repercussions even on the first offense.”
Store owners reported that the number of thefts was nearly cut in half. “It’s very early, only a couple months into their investigation now and it seems like it’s been successful,” said Leah Weycker, the director of Military Avenue Business District. [Source: ABC News]
Russian MP’s son hacks ‘millions’ of stolen credit cards
Roman Seleznev is known as the son of Russian parliament member Valery Seleznev. He is also known as ‘Track2′ in hacking circles and has now been convicted of 38 counts of fraud and theft by a US federal jury who conducted an eight-day trial in Seattle.
The charges against Seleznev junior relate to his thefts of millions of credit card numbers, which he has subsequently sold online across a network of connected fraudsters and con artists. Seleznev was taken into custody in July 2014 and his laptop contained more than 1.7 million stolen credit card numbers.
Seleznev was convicted after the court considered 10 counts of wire fraud, eight counts of intentional damage to a protected computer, nine counts of obtaining information from a protected computer, nine counts of possession of 15 or more unauthorised access devices and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
According to a United States Department of Justice statement, Seleznev hacked into retail Point-of-Sale (PoS) systems and installed malicious software (malware) to steal credit card numbers from various businesses from a server he operated in Russia.
Seleznev operated by ‘bundling’ the credit card information he gleaned into groups called ‘bases’. These information packages were then sold as downloadable data on various ‘carding’ websites to buyers who would then use the credit card numbers for fraudulent purchases, according to the trial evidence. Seleznev will be sentenced December 2nd 2016 and his lawyer has said that his client faces a mandatory minimum of four years of jail time. [Source: SC Magazine]
Stolen goods found for sale in market raid
Police have busted a store for selling stolen merchandise after an investigation that lasted three months, Nashville Metro police said in a news release. When police raided N and P Discount Tobacco and Beer Market, they said they seized cigarettes, energy drinks, laundry detergent, batteries and various clothing items. Detectives also seized a stolen pistol from the market.
Pawn and Fraud Unit detectives began investigating the market in North Nashville in May. Police said the market’s owner, Nabih Zaher, purchased merchandise on seven occasions from a police operative who clearly represented the items as being stolen. Zaher paid the operative about a third of what the merchandise was actually worth, according to Metro. Kroger Organized Retail Crime personnel also assisted in the investigation, and charges against Zaher are still pending. [Source: The Tennessean]
Shoplifting Leads to Multi-State Fraud Investigation
A case of shoplifting at the Home Depot in Hillsborough, New Jersey led to the arrest of a man on fraud charges. Hillsborough Police say officers were originally called to the home improvement store on a shoplifting call. Authorities were then notified of potential fraud.
Police say Luis Hernandez-Castillo was at the store trying to purchase digital thermostats with a stolen credit card number. Hernandez-Castillo told officers he was buying lumber for his house in New Jersey, according to officials. But police say that digital thermostats from Home Depot locations in North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina were all located in his vehicle. Police say Hernandez-Castillo have been arrested for obtaining property by false pretense from the multiple stores. He is currently being held in the Orange County Jail under a $100,000 bond, according to authorities. An investigation is continuing. [Source: Chapelboro News]
LP Worldwide: Man held for theft of 120 gold coins
The Chandannagar (India) police have arrested the man duping three persons here of gold coins worth Rs 32 lakh ($52,576 US). Ganeshan posed as a purchase manager with an IT firm, to place an order for 120 gold coins with a well-known jeweller. The glib talker convinced the sellers about his offer. The jeweller sent a man with the coins to Ganeshan’s office in an IT park, after which Ganeshan disappeared with the coins.
Police said Ganeshan had checked into a city hotel and hired a cab from tour operator Parmeshwar Khaire. He told the cab driver that he wanted to buy gold coins to distribute to his employees as bonus and the driver told Khaire about it. Khaire met Ganeshan and told him that a relative of his works with a famous jeweller and connected the relative to Ganeshan. The jeweller agreed to send him the gold coins on the promise that Ganeshan would pay him in cash. The owner told Ganeshan to send a purchase order and quotation.
When Khaire and an employee of the jeweller met Ganeshan at his office, he told them to wait in the meeting room and requested the employee to hand over the coins to him as he wanted to show them to his director. He then left the room at which time he also escaped with the coins.
Ganeshan had committed a series of such offences. When apprehended he confessed to the Kerala police about this crime and was taken into custody. 93 coins worth Rs 27.2 lakh ($44,690 US) were recovered. [Source: Times of India]
LP Worldwide: The Full Cost of Cargo Thefts
Criminal gangs are well-acquainted with the movement of different goods around Europe, and they often set out with a specific objective in mind; high-value, easily re-sold products like pharmaceuticals, alcohol, electronics, clothing and baby formula are particularly desirable. Frequently, they just follow the target and wait for the best opportunity to snatch the cargo. That’s often when the driver pulls off the highway for a break. They typically steal the truck, transfer the merchandise as quickly as possible into another vehicle, and drive off, usually to another country. And if the driver is detained during the process, he will often be let go unharmed; at least in Europe, these types of thefts rarely involve violence.
And today, it’s easier than ever to sell stolen merchandise. Many just offer it on online platforms and avoid generating undue attention by selling in small quantities and with only modest discounts. Or they may have arrangements with unscrupulous wholesalers who will buy products without proper documentation. Plus, the availability of online marketplaces makes the stakes more attractive. With e-fencing, thieves can expect to sell the merchandise for about 70-80 percent of retail value; that’s a lot better than the 25-35 percent they might have gotten in pre-Internet days. So an “average” cargo theft could net around EUR 70 thousand to upwards of EUR 150 thousand or more for a higher value load. While that’s not a huge payday, it’s enough to tempt many criminal gangs; it’s not so much, however, to cause most law enforcement agencies to put a lot of resources into trying to recover the goods.
According to FreightWatch International, the value of cargo stolen in transit in Europe totaled EUR 11.6 billion. Notably, this was 41 percent greater than in 2007, even though freight volumes were down 20 percent as a result of the economic downturn and Europe’s sluggish recovery. But then, property theft tends to be inversely correlated with the broader economy; thefts go up when the economy goes down, and vice-versa. The estimated average value of a cargo theft in Europe are EUR 91 thousand. And these figures only cover reported thefts. It’s well-known that some companies choose not to report a loss to avoid damaging their reputation / brand.
Moreover, these costs only account for the direct retail value of the goods. Other studies have found that the non-reimbursable indirect costs stemming from a cargo theft are anywhere from four – six times greater than the direct cost. Unfortunately, modern highwaymen will continue to prowl European motorways in pursuit of high-value cargos. And when weighing different approaches, companies should recognize that the indirect costs of a cargo theft, including possible damages to a company’s reputation / brand, are many multiples of the direct costs. [Source: XL Catlin]
The post Breaking News in the Industry: August 31, 2016 appeared first on LPM.