Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, commonly referred to as CZ, believes Russia cannot use cryptocurrencies to circumvent western sanctions. He said this during a recent interview with Richard Quest, the host of CNN’s Quest Means Business. According to him, crypto is too traceable, a trait that makes it unsuitable for dodging sanctions. Zhao pointed out that governments…

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Tuesday on a prominent Russia-based darknet market site and a cryptocurrency exchange that it said operates primarily out of Moscow and St. Petersburg. The sanctions against Hydra and currency exchange Garantex, published on the Treasury Department’s website, “send a message today to criminals that you cannot hide on…

On the dark web, the takedown of yet another cryptocurrency-based black market for drugs has become almost a semiannual routine, with plenty of competitors ready to fill the shoes of any market law enforcement manages to bust. But the seizure of the Russian-language dark-web site Hydra may have ripple effects that go further than most:…

Welcome to the scary world of new age hybrid warfare where cyber attacks are sine-qua-non to any military exercise. Ever wondered what the following hacker groups have in common? -FancyBear, SandWorm, Conti, Turla; all Russian and allegedly responsible for hacking Presidential elections in Ukraine and launching ‘NotPetya’ attacks causing mayhem on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine. – Groups…

As Russia’s war against Ukraine escalates and sanctions by the U.S. and other countries intensify, so does their impact on supply chains around the world. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an invasion of the global supply chain,” according to Jennifer Bisceglie, founder and CEO of Interos, a supply chain risk management company. She said her firm’s data…

Waves, a Layer 1 blockchain known as ‘Russia’s Ethereum’, has suffered a reversal of fortune as accusations Ponzi schemes and market manipulation fly in a wild week of action. Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of crypto exchange FTX, even got swept into the drama as one of Russia’s major crypto plays went sideways. The project’s native token WAVES…

While the armed war between Ukraine and Russia may appear to be confined to a military level, it is likely to have far-reaching consequences for much of the world. Economic analysts expect it to trigger a dramatic rise in inflation partly because Russia is the world’s biggest exporter of natural gas and second-largest seller of oil. In…

In 2014, as Russia launched a proxy war in Eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea, and in the years that followed, Russian hackers hammered Ukraine. The cyberattacks went so far as to knock out the power grid in parts of the country in 2015. Russian hackers stepped up their efforts against Ukraine in the run-up to…

The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) has spotted new phishing attempts attributed to the Russian threat group tracked as Armageddon (Gamaredon). The malicious emails attempt to trick the recipients with lures themed after the war in Ukraine and infect the target systems with espionage-focused malware. CERT-UA has identified two separate cases, one targeting Ukrainian organizations…

On Feb. 24, the Russian invasion of Ukraine escalated with the use of conventional warfare, but coordinated cyber conflict has been underway in the region for much longer. In 2014, Ukraine’s Central Election Commission was targeted by threat actors. In December 2015, an attack on the power grid plunged parts of the country into darkness. In…

While most of the world watches in horror as Vladimir Putin advances his military invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s congruent foray into Bitcoin, gold-linked rubles and central bank digital currencies is triggering a conflicted response from financial technology and crypto enthusiasts. On one hand, the moves by Russia vindicate and legitimize alternative-money visions for the world. On…

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has dialed up Google’s vigilance when it comes to monetizing controversial content. The company has received criticism in the past for allowing the monetization of hateful or violent content through its ad network. However, Google has been taking steps to address this issue. For example, at the end of March, the…

The war in Ukraine has come with an ever-present threat of cyber catastrophe, as experts and US military officials remain on high alert for potential hacks. And while the big one has yet to come, the battle online continues to escalate. UK intelligence officers warned on Thursday that Russia was increasingly seeking out cyber targets as…

Jamie Dimon, CEO and chairman of the biggest U.S. bank by assets, pointed to a potentially unprecedented combination of risks facing the country in his annual shareholder letter. Three forces are likely to shape the world over the next several decades: a U.S. economy rebounding from the Covid pandemic; high inflation that will usher in an…

Elon Musk took a 9.2% stake in Twitter Inc. to become the platform’s biggest shareholder, a week after hinting he might shake up the social media industry. Twitter shares surged as much as 26% after Musk’s purchase was revealed Monday in a regulatory filing, the stock’s biggest intraday increase in more than four years. The stake…

China launched cyber-attacks on Ukrainian military and nuclear targets shortly before the Russian invasion, according to a report. The UK government confirmed that the National Cyber Security Centre was investigating the allegations, which claim that more than 600 websites, including Ukraine’s defence ministry, were subjected to thousands of hacking attempts coordinated by the Chinese government. A…

Citi is the latest Wall Street player to issue a bullish forecast for web3 and the metaverse, which describe a future vision for the internet built around decentralized technologies and virtual worlds. The metaverse economy could be an $8 trillion to $13 trillion total addressable market by 2030, Citi said in a research report published Thursday. The…

Almost half of Russia’s $630 billion reserves have been seized by foreign governments since the invasion of Ukraine. It was relatively easy to do given modern financial infrastructure. The mainstream temptation is to react favorably to this move. Russia will be poorer and so less able to fund its war. The baddies lose, the goodies win. Now…

Russia signaled Tuesday that it’s becoming increasingly aggravated by cyberattacks targeting the country, which have come from numerous directions in response to its unprovoked assault on Ukraine. In a statement, reported on by outlets including Reuters and the Russian news agency Tass, Russia’s foreign ministry pledged to uncover the sources of the recent “cyber aggression” and…

For two years, the pandemic threw the vital but usually invisible world of logistics into a tailspin, creating shortages of goods including masks, memory chips, plastic polymers, paper towels and bicycles. Though the cargo industry’s ships, trains, trucks and planes continued to run full steam, they struggled to absorb the rolling tremors from Covid-19 —…

The U.S. government began privately warning some American companies the day after Russia invaded Ukraine that Moscow could manipulate software designed by Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky to cause harm, according to a senior U.S. official and two people familiar with the matter. The classified briefings are part of Washington’s broader strategy to prepare providers of critical…