29.03.2024

Brazilian Securities Regulator Bans Bitcoin, Forex Broker

On Sept. 25, CVM published a public warning of irregular action concerning XM Global Limited through the Superintendent of Market and Intermediary (SMI) Relations. In its warning, the CVM states that XM Global Limited is not authorized to operate in Brazil or deal with customers residing there.

The Brazilian Securities Commission (CVM) has banned a forex broker offering Bitcoin options, Cointelegraph Brasil reported on Sept. 25.

The CVM ordered the immediate suspension of investment offerings in the forex or derivatives space. If the condition is not met, the firm will be fined 1,000 reals ($239) per day.

Cointelegraph Brazil reports that XM is a major trading platform, but the forex market is banned in Brazil and no company is authorized to sell these kinds of options in the country. The company started trading Bitcoin against the dollar in 2017.

As Cointelegraph reported at the end of August, Thailand’s securities regulator has also warned the public about scam entities posing as legal digital currency trading firms operating overseas.

That same month, Zambian Securities and Exchange Commission CEO Philip Chitalu warned the public that the creator of the OnyxCoin cryptocurrency, Kwakoo, is not licensed to give investment advice or solicit funds from within and outside the country.

Emsisoft Releases Bug Fix for Bitcoin-Ransoming Malware WannaCryFake

Software firm Emsisoft released a bug fix for the bitcoin-ransoming malware WannaCryFake.

Announced today in a blog post, the free software will help recover encrypted files without leading to data loss.

Unlike real crypto-mining exploits, ransomware is dependent on extortion to reap a reward. Ransomware attacks increased 118 percent in 2019, equaling 504 new threats per minute, in the first quarter, according to a McAfee report.

WannaCryFake is a variant of the infamous WannaCry ransomware that targeted Microsoft computers in 2017. It locks victims’ files using AES-256, or the advanced encryption standard.

An infected victim will receive a message that says:

“You have to pay for decryption in bitcoins. The price depends on how fast you write to us. After payment we will send you the tool that will decrypt all your files.”

Victims are instructed to contact the ransomware distributors through ProtonMail or Telegram, and are then provided steps on how to send bitcoin through Pidgin.

Though the virus suggests LocalBitcoin’s as the “easiest way to buy bitcoin”, it also sources CoinDesk’s beginners’ guide to bitcoin for users unfamiliar with the digital currency.

The malware also warns, “Decryption of your files with the help of third parties may cause increased price (they add their fee to our) or you can become a victim of a scam.”

Once downloaded, the Emsisoft Decryptor uses the encrypted file and the original unencrypted version to piece together the keys needed to decrypt locked data. Because the protocol uses filename extensions to determine the encryption parameters, users are instructed not to rename their files.

Emsisoft’s software allows users to keep a record of the decryption process by using the Save Log button.

In addition to an increase in bitcoin ransoming malware, crypto-jacking scams are up 29 percent in the first half of 2019, despite the difficulty in mining due to bitcoin’s increasing hash rate.

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