Tag: Mt Gox | Hamilton.jerry

March 5, 2014

Distributed Denial of Service: Growing and Biting Harder

Distributed Denial of Service Attacks Out of Control

DDOS attacks have surpassed automated defenses, says Prolexic, a firm specializing in online security. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/05/us-cyber-ddos-idUSBREA240XZ20140305

Last month Cloudfare, another firm specializing in online security, faced its biggest DDOS threat ever. http://blog.cloudflare.com/technical-details-behind-a-400gbps-ntp-amplification-ddos-attack That attack rose 30 percent higher in power than the largest attack in recorded history.

Stories of destroying Mt. Gox and crippling Bitcoin rapidly have risen to the status of mythology. http://techland.time.com/2014/03/03/what-happened-to-mt-gox/ In Europe, Spamhaus news of their DDOS attack hit across the continent. http://gigaom.com/2014/02/11/record-breaking-ddos-attack-struck-on-monday-according-to-reports/ New names of victims like Namecheap reach headlines daily. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57619235-83/namecheap-targeted-in-monumental-ddos-attack/

What causes most DDOS attacks? It’s not bad weather. http://www.ponemon.org/blog/live-threat-intelligence-impact-report-2013 Analysts at http://HamiltonFinanceServices.com argue that warring nations, crime, and similar dark forces cannot account for all of the cyber carnage.

One especially nasty source of the worst recent attacks is wireless printers. You heard right. Wifi connected printers paired with bots intent on emitting millions of data requests offer the latest in DDOS tech. The software can be purchased cheaply by college kids for school projects. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9238833/Printers_routers_used_as_bots_in_DDoS_attacks

No matter what causes the attacks, some firms like Black Lotus make big money protecting against them. http://www.blacklotus.net/ddos-protection-firm-selects-telx-cloud-connection-center

So what should you and I do? One expert who focuses on cyber threats, Alexander Klimburg from the Austrian Institute for International Affairs, is on loan to Harvard University to research an answer to this question. His answer so far: “It’s very hard to know what to do.” http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/experts/2690/alexander_klimburg.html

Any opinions out there? Aside from staying offline and shutting down your online business, will cyber bullies reign for the foreseeable future?

March 1, 2014

Who Can We Blame, Asks Mt. Gox

From the beginning of Mt. Gox, claims have run rampant that tracing Bitcoin transactions offers more transparency than any other currency. Oh yeah? So who would be named in a criminal complaint for the hack attack that stole half a billion dollars worth of Bitcoins at Mt. Gox? Answer: We don’t know. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/28/us-bitcoin-mtgox-bankruptcy-idUSBREA1R0FX20140228

So, instead of pushing a criminal complaint, Mt. Gox will be hit with civil law suits, meaning suits for money, by frustrated investors who want their money back. One class action suit in Illinois by investor Greg Greene for consumer fraud, negligence, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty exemplifies what will be coming next week and after. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/02/illinois-man-files-class-action-lawsuit-against-bitcoin-exchange-mtgox/

The obvious technical question: Why can’t the hack attack at Mt. Gox be traced? That’s what Japanese, US, and other investigators want to know. http://gigaom.com/2014/02/27/us-and-japan-authorities-probe-bitcoin-attacks-as-leak-blogger-claims-theres-no-buyer-for-mtgox/

And the rest of us want to know the answer to that question, too. So stay tuned. Analysts at http://hamiltonfinanceservices.com forecast a full slate of reports about just what happened and who did it as the investigations unfold. If you have insights, particularly about how it might have been done, people want to know your thoughts.

February 28, 2014

Mt. Gox Bankruptcy Filed Over Bitcoin Hack

Today Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy in Japan, where its headquarters stand. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/sns-mt-gox-bankruptcy-bitcoins-20140228,0,3681597.story

A hack attack took over 750,000 coins from Mt. Gox accounts, worth nearly half a billion US dollars on the currency markets. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/02/28/mt-gox-files-for-bankruptcy/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Mark Karpeles, CEO of Mt. Gox, in his public apology, blames “weaknesses in the system” for the loss by his currency exchange business. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/28/us-bitcoin-mtgox-bankruptcy-idUSBREA1R0FX20140228

Mt. Gox has historically been the largest trader of Bitcoin, although other currency exchanges similar to that of Mt. Gox also continue trading in that cryptocoin and others. http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/28/mt-gox-files-for-bankruptcy/

Analysts at http://HamiltonFinanceServices.com say that while Bitcoin continues to be traded, the long term effects on NewCoin technology suddenly seem cloudy, and risks of buying or selling Bitcoins and similar digital currencies may freeze all NewCoin markets in the near future.

Those with no risk and no investments in digital currencies seem apathetic, but those hoping to find financial security in the new technology may have lost life savings. What about you? Have you lost anything in the Mt. Gox bankruptcy? Or how about your experience with digital currency trading in general? Any good experiences out there, or has everyone suffered bad experience?

February 25, 2014

Tipping Point for Mt. Gox and Bitcoin?

Bitcoin Investors Learn the Hard Way About Currency Exchange Risks

Mt. Gox, the Japan-based online exchange for Bitcoin with other currencies, halted operations this past week and continues to ignore investor requests for explanations other than that unusual activities on the exchange require halting its services. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/25/us-mtgox-website-idUSBREA1O07920140225

Bitcoin is the leading cryptocoin, a privately invented online form of money traded worldwide on currency markets in exchange for US dollars, British pounds, Japanese yen, and many other currencies. Mt. Gox has offered a leading exchange service for Bitcoin currency markets. Several other exchanges such as Bitstamp and BTC-E have issued statements to assure their investors that nothing like Mt. Gox’s problems has occurred in their operations. http://btctrading.wordpress.com

Analysts at http://HamiltonFinanceServices.com characterize the Mt. Gox cessation of services as a landmark development in the struggle for survival of cryptocoin technology, and they say failure to overcome market interference may begin a major decline in the financial value of all NewCoin technologies.

Have you invested in any cryptocoins lately? Which ones do you trust, or can you reasonably trust any of them?

hamilton.jerry

February 11, 2014

Bitcoin Blues on Mt Gox in Tokyo

Bitcoin Withdrawals Halted by Mt. Gox

With New York’s top banker set to regulate Bitcoin exchanges, the Tokyo marketplace named Mt. Gox halted withdrawals late last week of all digital accounts. http://www.forbes.com/sites/leoking/2014/02/11/bitcoin-trading-technology-in-question-as-currency-dives-after-glitch/

Bitcoin, the most traded cyrptocoin, lost about 14% of its value, dropping from a price in US dollars of $692 per coin to $595. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-investing-bitcoin-idUSBREA191Y220140210

The Mt. Gox action to stop withdrawals arose from “unusual activity” detected in the marketplace. No details about the nature of such activities has been released so far. Sebastien Galy, a currency trader with New York’s Societie Generale described the technical issues as “… of a much larger intensity than we’ve seen in the past.”

In recent months the Sacramento Kings basketball franchise and the online retailer Overstock.com began accepting Bitcoins for payment. At the same time, however, legal actions surrounding arrest of Bitcoin leaders raised fundamental questions about cyrptocoin viability. http://hamiltonfinanceservices.com/?p=1350

Is this the beginning of the end for digital coin alternatives to government-backed currencies? Or is this simply another adjustment in the longer term birth of new currencies? http://www.afp.com/en/search/site/bitcoin/

What do you think?