5 years for $10 Billion Bitcoin Hack

This Week’s News

5 Years For $10 Billion BTC

Following a hack of cryptocurrency platform Bitfinex in 2016 that led to the theft of 120,000 bitcoin worth approximately $71 Million at the time. A husband and wife were arrested in 2022 in connection with the hack where the bitcoin would be worth over $10 Billion today!

This week, the husband was sentenced to 5 years in prison for carrying out the hack and laundering the profits. Law enforcement has even been able to recover the stolen funds due to errors made by the attacker in conjunction with crypt-tracing technology allowing for the funds to be tracked.

The wife, who has posted rap videos on YouTube under the name of ‘Razzlekhan’ is due to be sentenced next week. Does this look like a mastermind hacker able to pull off a $10 Billion heist?!

Safe and Ethical AI

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released a framework for applying artificial intelligence in critical infrastructure sectors.

The guidelines emphasise safe and ethical AI use, prioritising transparency, accountability, and risk mitigation to ensure security and resilience in critical systems. The framework recommends that AI developers evaluate potentially dangerous capabilities in their products, ensure their products align with “human-centric values” and protect users’ privacy.

Palo Alto Pain

Cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks has confirmed that a zero-day vulnerability within their firewalls is being actively exploited.

A patch is yet to be release however, the company has published an advisory informing customers to ensure that access to the PAN-OS management interface is secured to trusted IP ranges only to minimise the threat.

Other News

• Facebook Fine - Meta fined €798m (£664m) for breaking competition law by embedding Facebook Marketplace within its social network.

• Swatter Swatted - A teenager has pleaded guilty to federal charges for orchestrating swatting attacks. Swatting is where false emergency calls are made leading to SWAT team raids on victims' homes.

• Robo Guard Dog - A robotic dog named “Spot” made by Boston Dynamics has been spotted patrolling the perimeter of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Career Development

FREE Cyber Hacking Advent Calendar

Starting December 1st, TryHackMe are kicking off their annual Advent of Cyber event. Daily beginner friendly, gamified cyber security challenges throughout the month of December.

You can join in on the fun for free using the following link and there are also prizes to be won!: