Bitcoin
Did AT&T pay $400,000 in Bitcoin to data hackers?
There are new revelations suggesting that telecom giant AT&T Inc. allegedly paid hackers who claimed to have compromised its telecom network and stolen sensitive information in 2022. According to claims by one of the hackers, the company paid $400,000 to the malicious group in what appears to be a ransom.
AT&T ransomware payout to hackers
According to Bloomberg reportThe hacker says he extorted $400,000 from AT&T to erase the trove of sensitive call log and text data stolen from nearly all of AT&T’s wireless customers over the course of six months.
Media efforts to get the multinational telecommunications holding company to comment on the hacker’s claim of a ransom payment proved abortive. Similarly, FBI and Justice Department officials refused to acknowledge whether the company had made any payments at the time.
However, a ransomware expert who wished to remain anonymous due to the confidential nature of the matter confirmed that AT&T paid a ransom to the hacker. Additionally, the hacker provided a Bitcoin wallet address, and an analysis of it revealed what experts consider a likely extortion transaction in mid-May.
Meanwhile, analysis of the publicly accessible ledger by renowned Chainalysis Inc. shows an interesting development. According to Chainalysis, there appears to be an extortion payment as an unknown entity deposited Bitcoin valued at $380,000 at the time to the wallet address provided by the hacker.
A smaller amount later came from the wallet to that of a notorious hacker that Chainalysis declined to name. However, from its analysis, the company says it was unable to verify or ascertain whether the payment was initiated by AT&T.
It is also unclear whether the telecom company used an intermediary.
Historical ransomware payments
Notably, the hacker had provided information and a seven-minute video that they claimed was proof that they were deleting the stolen data. According to them, this was in fulfillment of their end of the deal with AT&T.
However, other analysts say that given the detail and sensitivity of the alleged stolen information that posed national security risks, the $400,000 was significantly low. They maintain that other ransomware attacks have extorted larger sums from corporate organizations.
A clear example was when Colonial Pipeline Co. suffered a data breach. The company had to pay $4.4 million to a group of hackers in 2021 as the attack forced it to shut down its gas pipeline, affecting gas supplies to the East Coast of the United States.
Read more: Charles Hoskinson issues important security warning about Elon Musk
Bitcoin has lost out on an asset rally fueled by positive comments from the Federal Reserve, while a tight US election race casts doubt on whether Donald Trump will get the chance to implement his pro-crypto agenda.
The digital asset fell 2.4% on Wednesday, following a Fed-fueled surge in an index of megacap tech stocks Magnificent Seven by one of the largest margins in 2024. The token retreated further on Thursday, changing hands at $63,750 as of 6:10 a.m. in London.
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‘This is huge’ — Billionaire Mark Cuban issues ‘incredible’ Bitcoin and crypto prediction amid price slump
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came back with a vengeance this year when former President Donald Trump Cryptocurrency boosts US presidential election in November with ‘revolutionary’ plan.
The price of bitcoin has surged to more than its all-time high in recent months, surpassing $70,000 per bitcoin and triggering a wave of mega-optimistic predictions about the price of bitcointhough it fell again this week, falling below $65,000 after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady.
Now, as Elon Musk suddenly breaks his silence on bitcoin and cryptocurrenciesBillionaire investor Mark Cuban called a California plan to digitize 42 million car titles using blockchain an “incredible step forward” and “huge” for cryptocurrencies.
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Mark Cuban, famous Shark Tank investor and billionaire owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, has… [+] called a cryptocurrency update “amazing” amid bitcoin’s price slump.
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The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has digitized 42 million car titles using blockchain, it was reported by Reuters, through technology company Oxhead Alpha on the Avalanche blockchain and designed to detect fraud and facilitate the securities transfer process.
“This is an incredible development for crypto,” Cuban, best known as an investor on TV’s Shark Tank and owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, posted on X, joking that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler could sue the state as part of his hostility toward cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
“The reason this is huge for crypto is because people who hold the tokens will have an app with an Avalanche wallet,” Cuban said. “Tens of millions of Californians having and using a crypto wallet in the next five years, or however long it takes, normalizes the use of wallets and crypto.”
John Wu, president of Avalanche developer Ava Labs, told Reuters that California’s DMV is “creating a wallet that you can download on your phone.”
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Bitcoin’s price has rallied this year, triggering a wave of bullish bitcoin price predictions from… [+] people like billionaire Mark Cuban.
Forbes Digital Assets
Last month, Cuban predicted that if the US dollar falls as the global reserve currency, bitcoin could become “a global ‘safe haven’” and a “global currency.” potentially sending the price of bitcoin to a much higher level.
According to Cuban, bitcoin could become what its most ardent supporters “envision” — a means “of protecting our economies… This is already happening in countries facing hyperinflation.”
The price of bitcoin has skyrocketed over the past year, largely due to the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, leading a bitcoin attack on Wall Street.
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Bitcoin (BTC) miner Riot Platforms (RIOT)’s second-quarter loss widens to $84.4 million as costs rise
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At a national bitcoin conference in Nashville, Donald Trump finally laid out some of his crypto policy proposals, including a long-awaited part of his plan — building a strategic bitcoin reserve. CNN’s Jon Sarlin explains what it is and why the crypto industry wants it.
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