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UK privacy watchdog slaps Yahoo with another fine over 2014 hack
Yahoo still isn't done facing the consequences for its handling of a massive 2014 data breach. The UK's Information Commissioner's Office has slapped Yahoo UK Services Ltd with a £250,000 (about $334,300) fine under the country's Data Protection Act. The ICO determined that Yahoo didn't take "appropriate" steps to protect the data of 515,121 UK users against hacks, including meeting protection standards and monitoring the credentials of staff with access to the information.
The SEC made a fake cryptocurrency to show you how ICO scams work
HoweyCoin, a new digital currency, was launched today through a pre-initial coin offering and the team behind it said it would be "the cryptocurrency standard for the travel industry." The HoweyCoin website offers a number of investment levels as well as various discounts depending on when you invest. However, when you click the "Buy Coins Now!" button, it takes you to an SEC website warning you of the strategies used by ICO scammers.
SEC charges third 'mastermind' in ICO fraud case
The SEC is clearly determined to crack down on everyone involved in Centra Tech's allegedly fraudulent initial coin offering. Officials have filed fraud charges against a third "mastermind" in the case, Raymond Trapani, for reportedly helping to whip up false claims about the $32 million ICO and manipulate trading to keep the offering's price up. As evidence, the SEC trotted out a group text message where Trapani reportedly told Centra's Sohrab Sharma to "cook me up" a fake document while trying to get the company's tokens listed on an exchange using bogus credentials.
Cambridge Analytica was looking to jump on the crypto bandwagon, too
Before news broke that it had improperly obtained millions of Facebook users' data and undercover videos showed executives listing entrapment among the nefarious ways it could halt political opponents, Cambridge Analytica was reportedly working on a digital currency. And, interestingly, the cryptocurrency was apparently going to be marketed as a way to fund a system through which users could store and sell their online data. Sources told Reuters that the data firm had consulted a company on how to structure an initial coin offering (ICO).
SEC charges two individuals with fraud in continuing ICO investigation
The SEC has charged two individuals for what it alleges was a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) that raised over $32 million last year. Sohrab Sharma and Robert Farkas co-founded Centra Tech Inc. and the SEC says the company sold unregistered investments through a token. Sharma and Farkas are said to have told potential investors that the company was working on a Visa and MasterCard-backed debit card that would convert cryptocurrencies into US dollars, but the SEC alleges Centra was not actually working with either of those companies. Additionally, the co-founders made up executives with impressive backgrounds and shared misleading information on the company's website.
Massachusetts halts five ICOs for defying financial rules
It's not just the feds concerned about sketchy cryptocurrency fundraising. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin has ordered a halt to the sale of five initial coin offerings (18 Moons, Across Platforms, Mattervest, Pink Ribbon and Sparkco) for offering "unregistered securities." All five listed the state as their place of business, but hadn't registered with the state to sell their wares. That should be a "red flag" to any potential investors, Galvin said.
Twitter will ban most cryptocurrency ads
It's not just the likes of Facebook and Google who are clamping down on cryptocurrency ads. Twitter has confirmed an earlier rumor by announcing plans to ban most cryptocurrency-related ads in the near future. The restrictions will cover initial coin offerings, crypto wallets and token sales, as well as most crypto exchanges (with "limited exceptions," according to Reuters). There's no timetable for the ban at the ban at this stage.
Twitter may be the next to ban cryptocurrency ads
Twitter may soon join Facebook and Google in cracking down on ads for cryptocurrency-related products. Sky sources have claimed the social network will institute worldwide ban against ads for initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency wallets and token sales within the next two weeks. It might also ban ads for cryptocurrency exchanges with "some limited exceptions," according to the apparent leak.
Nearly half of 2017's cryptocurrencies have already failed
The surging price of bitcoin (among others) in 2017 led more than a few companies to hop on the cryptocurrency bandwagon with hopes of striking it rich almost overnight. Many of their initial coin offerings seemed dodgy from the outset... and it turns out they were. Bitcoin.com has conducted a study of ICOs tracked by Tokendata, and a whopping 46 percent of the 902 crowdsale-based virtual currencies have already failed. Of these, 142 never got enough funding; another 276 have either slowly faded away or were out and out scams.
Facebook bans ads promoting cryptocurrencies
Most of Facebook's recent advertising changes have tried to curb the danger of, you know, a foreign government using the social network to influence elections. But Facebook believes other kinds of harmful ads prey on less-than-savvy users with get-rich-quick promises and trendy buzzwords. So the network is banning all advertisements that promote cryptocurrencies -- yes, even bitcoin -- because they are 'frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices.'
Carphone Warehouse fined £400K for serious 2015 data breach
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is back to doing what it does best today, slapping Carphone Warehouse with a £400,000 fine for a 2015 data breach that exposed the personal information of over 3 million customers and 1,000 staff. It's one of the heftiest invoices the ICO has ever written up, though TalkTalk was fined just as much for failing to protect user data from a cyberattack that same year. Carphone Warehouse suffered a comparably serious breach that affected several of the company's brands. Not only were names, addresses, dates of birth and other personal details exposed, but the "historical" card details of 18,000 customers. According to the ICO, though, "there has been no evidence that the data has resulted in identify theft or fraud."
Kodak is jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon
Kodak's big film revival isn't working out as well as planned, which leaves it in a tough spot. How is it going to spark interest and raise a ton of cash in a hurry? Easy -- hop on the cryptocurrency bandwagon. The former legend has partnered with Wenn Digital to launch a KodakOne image-rights platform that takes advantage of KodakCoin, a photo-centric virtual currency. In theory, the monetary format creates a reliable photo economy -- the distributed trust of blockchain ensures you get paid instantly and securely the moment someone buys your pictures. KodakOne, meanwhile, continuously crawls the web looking for copyright violations.
Indiegogo makes it easy to hop on the cryptocurrency bandwagon
There's a frenzy over cryptocurrency at the moment (helped in no small part by bitcoin's sky-high value), and Indiegogo is determined to milk the trend for all it's worth. The crowdfunding site has partnered with MicroVentures to enable investments in the initial coin offerings (ICOs) that are all the rage as of late. If you think a new digital cash format is going to be the next big thing, you now have a potentially easier way to pour money into it -- and you don't need to be an accredited investor, which limits the scope of many ICOs. The first offering on tap is the Fan-Controlled Football League, which is running a pre-sale for $5 million tokens for 10 days after this writing.
UK watchdog has to remind MPs not to share their passwords
With the number of computer-based attacks steadily rising in the UK, Britons have been warned over and over again to use strong passwords, to ensure they're not recycled and to never disclose them to a third party. So when three Conservative MPs came out over the weekend admitting to sharing their credentials with interns and other members of staff, it's easy to see why the UK's data watchdog is none too pleased.
Uber says 2016 hack affected 2.7 million UK customers and drivers
As Uber prepares to defend itself following news that it suffered -- and subsequently hid -- a massive data breach in 2016, the company has begun shedding light on how many people it affected locally. At first count, 57 million global users were implicated in the attack, but the ride-hailing service today revealed that as many as 2.7 million UK customers and drivers had their names, email addresses and mobile phone numbers stolen.
UK data watchdog opens its own investigation into Uber hack
After reports emerged that Uber had suffered a massive data breach, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has said it has "huge concerns" about the company's data protection policies and has confirmed it has launched its own investigation into Uber's decision to cover it up.
SEC warns celebs about legal dangers of bitcoin endorsements
When celebrities endorse things on social media, a lot of people tend to take their word for it. Now that some of them have also begun endorsing a controversial means of crowdfunding called "initial coin offering" or ICO, which was recently banned in China and South Korea, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has had to step in with a warning. Since ICOs are an unregulated means to raise money using cryptocurrencies, people could use them to sell products that don't exist or to entice investors to sink their money into projects that will never materialize. That's why SEC has decided to be on the lookout for celebrity ICO endorsements to protect potential investors.
South Korea cracks down on use of digital cash for crowdfunding
South Koreans who were planning to raise funds using cryptocurrency will have to find an alternative method. The country has decided to follow in China's footsteps and has banned raising money through all forms of virtual currency, according to Reuters. As TechCrunch noted, businesses around the globe have raised over $1.8 billion this year using the method known as initial coin offering or ICO. It's a convenient way to gather funding for various products, but it's not regulated and could easily be used to scam millions out of investors.
TalkTalk fined £100,000 for long-forgotten 2014 data breach
Enough time has passed that TalkTalk has bounced back from its reputation-damaging data debacle of 2015, which saw hackers steal the personal details of over 150,000 of its customers. That earned the company a £400,000 fine from the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), and today an older data breach in 2014 has cost the company an additional £100,000. The ICO has handed TalkTalk the invoice as a slap on the wrist for failing to adequately protect customer details after third-party support staff were found to have gained "unauthorised and unlawful access to the personal data of up to 21,000 customers."
'The Last Guardian' gets its own companion book
While 2016 hasn't been the best year for the world at large, it's certainly been a brilliant one for video games. As well as giving us excellent titles like Overwatch and Uncharted 4, 2016 has also seen the release of two games that many thought would never see the light of day - Final Fantasy XV and The Last Guardian.
