Sept. 26th: Bittrex Adopts Chainalysis Tracking Software

This is your daily roundup for Thursday, September 26, 2019.  Bittrex adopts chainalysis tracking software, a new malware is stealing browser data, and Binance helps UK police find a cybercriminal involved in phishing attacks.

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Bittrex Adopts Chainalysis Tracking Software

Bittrex is adopting real-time monitoring software from Chainalysis to detect suspicious activity across bitcoin, ether, litecoin, dai, gemini, and more. The Know Your Transaction (KYT) software by Chainalysis flags criminal transactions by using its database of suspicious addresses.

This comes as governments and regulators around the world are increasing their oversight of crypto exchanges at the request of the Financial Action Task Force. Jonathan Levin, Chainalysis’ chief security officer, said KYT automates much of Bittrex’s review process. The software flags criminal activity, but a Bittrex-employed compliance analyst still needs to determine if the threat is valid and then file a suspicious activity report with regulators.

Zuckerberg Hesitates For Libra 2020 Launch

Mark Zuckerberg has said that Facebook is now taking a more cautious approach when bringing forward the Libra project and avoided committing to a launch date, contrary to the Libra Association managing director’s commitment earlier this month.

When asked about the expected date of the stablecoin’s launch, Zuckerberg stated “Obviously we want to move forward at some point soon and not have this take many years to roll out, but right now I’m really focused on making sure that we do this well.” Zuckerberg claims that the association is allowing a period for consultation and working through the issues.

Binance Helps UK Police Find Phishing Criminal

Binance has helped the UK Police investigate a cyber criminal who sold phishing tools that resulted in the theft of millions of pounds. Binace chief compliance officer Samuel Li said that around half a million people were targeted, a majority by email, with the criminals raking in over £41 million.

The phishing scripts allowed criminals to obtain personal details from more than 53 clone websites of legitimate U.K. companies. Potential victims would then be targeted with phishing emails or have their details sold on the dark web.  The criminal was identified as a 37 year old Bulgarian man, and now faces 9 years in prison.

“Masad Stealer” Malware Is Stealing Browser Data

According to cybersecurity firm Juniper Networks, a new bit of malware called Masad Stealer can inject malicious code into your browser and replace wallet addresses, access credit card browser data, browser passwords, and more. The program dumps this information to the malware controller’s Telegram account, ensuring relative security for the data it steals.

It also clips and changes cryptocurrency addresses automatically and uses special search functions to pinpoint the addresses on your clipboard. Bad actors achieve end user downloads by advertising in forums, on third party download sites or on file sharing sites. Juniper says the malware costs $40 on the dark web and is completely configurable and very dangerous.

Coinbase Updates Support For NY

And lastly, Coinbase has announced that New York residents now have access to Stellar lumens and Chainlink’s LINK token. Lumens and LINK have already been available for many other states, but the high regulatory hurdles set in New York were likely behind the delays in adding support.

This has been your daily roundup from This Week in Crypto for Thursday, September 26, 2019. Be sure to support the podcast by subscribing on your favorite podcast app including Google Home and Alexa devices. Also join us on Twitter to let us know your thoughts at twitter.com/weekincrypto. Thanks for listening, we’ll see you next time.