Can Spyware Link Bitcoin Transactions to Addresses?
Following the hacking incident on Italian spyware company Hacking Team, the issue on whether bitcoin transactions can be linked to addresses has been raised. In particular, drones that can install spyware through wifi networks are seen to be a potential threat to bitcoin network anonymity. On the one hand, this could have advantages since it could allow governments and authorities to track down criminal activity that involves bitcoin. After all, several drug deals and terrorist attacks have reportedly been linked to bitcoin transactions. On the other hand, it could lead to a massive loss....
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Italian spyware vendor Hacking Team's internal data was hacked and released this week, leaking research and information on how its bitcoin spyware called "Money Module," which was used to spy on protesters and political dissidents works. The Italian spyware vendor has been selling the software that surveils computers or smartphones to a range of clients, including international law enforcement agencies. The software was launched in January 2014, and has been used to track down transactions of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, litecoin, feathercoin and namecoin. The software targets one key....
Although bitcoin addresses are composed of randomly generated hexadecimal characters, which are unrelated to one's id, anyone can see each and every transaction on the public ledger, so the flow of bitcoins from an address to another along the blockchain is visible to everyone. Solely, the hexadecimal characters of a given address can never be used to identify the person using it to send or receive bitcoins. However, a bitcoin address can be linked to a specific individual based on past transactions via blockchain analysis, Googling btc addresses, surveillance and hacking with extraction....
Bitcoin transactions have been appealing mostly due to their anonymous nature, but recent reports revealed that spyware firm Hacking Team has been tracking activity on bitcoin wallet sites. Security news provider CSO reported that hackers have been able to access a large cache of files including internal emails, payment invoices and product descriptions. Hacking Team is a notorious spyware group based in Italy that has been known for providing technology that enables hacking, mass surveillance and data collection. It has also been associated with repressive governments. Bitcoin Wallets....
LINK could drop to nearly $4 by December 2022 given its failure to close above a key resistance level despite strong whale accumulation. Chainlink (LINK) returned to mimic the broader crypto market downtrend as its price fell alongside top coins Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) on Nov. 8. LINK plunged by as much as 10% into the day to reach $8. While BTC and ETH slipped by approximately 6.5% and 9%. That contrasts with the trend witnessed on Nov. 7, wherein LINK rallied 14% to $9.25, its three-month high, while BTC and ETH dropped 1.5% and 0.5%, respectively.LINK/USD two-hour price chart.....
Just after Zcash launched, the anonymous new digital currency that has taken the crypto world by storm, a bug was found that apparently prevents private transactions from being mined. Zcash’s official website states: “There is one known bug, which causes private transactions (those in which all of the inputs and outputs are shielded addresses) to not get mined. We’re going to release v1.0.1 shortly to fix it.” The Zcash Mining Pool currently has a big red banner which states: “Because of a critical Zcash wallet bug we are unable to send any payments to z addresses at the moment. Please....