Delays in delivering mining hardware orders

Coronavirus outbreak delays supplies of mining hardware. Mining manufacturers MicroBT, Bitmain and Innosilicon have notified customers that there will be delays in delivering hardware orders. The Chinese government has decided to extend the new year’s holiday due to the Chinese coronavirus outbreak.

MicroBT has released a notification on WeChat that refers to a decision by the Guangdong provincial government to extend the Chinese New Year holiday until February 9, an additional week.

“As a result, the production, delivery, after-sales service and the sending and receiving of documents and other arrangements will be delayed”

is shown in the MicroBT ad.

Artem Eremin, product manager of ASIC retailer 3Logic, told Coindesk that similar ads were also published by Bitmain and Innosilicon.

Crypto mining malware in the wallpaper with Kobe Bryant

The Microsoft Security Information Unit announced that they had identified crypto mining malware in a wallpaper with Kobe Bryant:

“I found a malicious HTML file, presented in the form of a Kobe Bryant wallpaper that contains a coin extraction script.”

While the world mourns the loss of an NBA legend, cybercriminals are, as expected, taking advantage of the tragedy. We found a malicious HTML file posing as a Kobe Bryant wallpaper that contains a coin mining script. pic.twitter.com/w2JwPvqFy5

– Microsoft Security Intelligence (@MsftSecIntel) January 30, 2020

The script mentions “CoinHive”, a browser-based miner for cryptocurrency currency (XMR) that has proven popular with hackers. However, CoinHive closed all operations in March 2019. The scip is still widely used on cryptojacking websites.

It’s not the first time cybercriminals have used celebrity photos to hide malware. Last month, an image with Taylor Swift was used for the same purpose. The picture of actress Scarlett Johansson, was also used to hide monero malware.

tZERO plans to launch broker-dealer services for security tokens

Overstock’s security tokens platform, tZERO, has announced plans for 2020.
These include the launch of broker-dealer services – called tZERO Markets – “in the first half of this year”.

The company set out to list five security tokens on the tZERO ATS platform in 2019. However, regulatory issues have delayed the process. Currently only two security tokens and one broker-dealer, Dinosaur Financial, are listed.

The company expects to list its third token security “in the coming weeks,” along with five other broker-dealers.

Meanwhile, the company also announced that it could request additional funding from outside sources in late 2020 or early 2021. Launched in January 2019, tZERO received $ 5 million in funding from GSR Capital in May.

Silk Road operator pleads guilty to charges of drug trafficking

Roger Thomas Clark has been charged with operating as a darknet market operator Silk Road and was a founding advisor to founder Ross Ulbricht. Prosecutors announced that he pleaded guilty to “conspiracy to distribute massive quantities of drugs”.

Known online as “Plural of Mongoose”, “Variety Jones”, “VJ” and “Cimon”, Clark will receive his sentence on May 29. He was first charged with conspiracy to drug trafficking and money laundering in 2015. Clark was arrested in Thailand on December 3, 2015 and subsequently extradited to the US for trial. The prosecution carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.