Concerns Hanging Over Huobi Result in Significant Net Outflow

Akira ransomware, responsible for stealing $42 million from over 250 organizations across North America, Europe and Australia in just a year, is now targeting businesses in Singapore. In response, Singaporean authorities have issued a joint advisory warning local businesses about the increasing threat posed by a variant of this ransomware.Photo by Mike Enerio on UnsplashAlert follows complaintsThe alert follows multiple complaints from victims, prompting agencies like the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA), the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) to take action. These agencies emphasize the urgency of recognizing and combating this threat. How Akira operatesAkira affiliates employ various techniques to infiltrate a victim's network. These include exploiting known vulernabilities. For example, that could mean the targeting of services like Cisco virtual private networks (VPNs) that have been configured without multi-factor authentication (MFA). Another approach that the ransomware incorporates is attacking external-facing services such as the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) via brute force. Social engineering is another tool within its repertoire. This involves tricking victims into downloading malicious software or entering credentials on phishing websites. There is a marketplace for compromised credentials in the dark web. Akira also relies on such data, acquiring it from access brokers who sell network access.  Once inside a network, Akira affiliates often create new domain accounts to maintain persistent access, even after reboots. They use numerous tools to steal user credentials, escalate privileges and spread throughout the network. Detection and prevention measuresThe Singaporean advisory outlines several strategies for detecting, deterring and neutralizing Akira attacks. Authorities strongly advise against paying ransoms, on the basis that doing so does not guarantee data recovery or prevent future attacks. Authorities also warn that paying ransoms can encourage further attacks. The FBI has noted that Akira operators do not contact victims. Instead, they expect victims to initiate contact. Payment in BitcoinThe advisory outlines how Bitcoin is implicated in the ransomware scam. It states:”Ransom payments are requested in Bitcoin, which are directed to cryptocurrency wallet addresses specified by the affiliates. The TOR site (.onion) where victims contact the affiliates, contains stolen information and a list of the affected organisations.” It’s not the first time that Singaporean authorities have issued warnings that have implicated Bitcoin and crypto. In January, the CSA and SPF, in a joint advisory, suggested that people should use hardware wallets in an effort to guard against crypto-related malware and phishing attacks. A number of weeks prior to that, Singapore’s former Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, took to Facebook to issue a warning with regard to a crypto scam that involved the use of deceptive content generated using artificial intelligence (AI). Mitigation techniquesBusinesses are being urged by the authorities to adopt best practices to mitigate the Akira ransomware threat. They suggest the implementation of a recovery plan alongside the use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) in order to secure data and the access to that data.  They also suggest filtering network traffic as it helps in identifying and blocking malicious activities. Meanwhile, disabling unused ports and hyperlinks curbs the risk further as it reduces the attack surface. Lastly, the authorities suggested the use of system-wide encryption to protect data even if it is accessed by unauthorized entities.

On Thursday, South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Committee (PIPC) launched an investigation into Worldcoin’s personal data collection, processing and potential overseas transfer of sensitive personal data, the PIPC announced today via its official website. This comes after a number of complaints were filed against Worldcoin for its data collection practices.  Sam Altman’s crypto project Worldcoin gathers people’s personal data who signed up to have their irises scanned by “orbs” devices, which are currently installed in about 10 locations in Korea, including Yeouido, Pangyo and Apgujeong. The project started with the aim of distributing universal basic income to people whose jobs will be potentially replaced by artificial general intelligence (AGI) in the future. Photo by Colin Lloyd on UnsplashThe PIPC said the regulators will examine if any local privacy law has been violated by Worldcoin, and take further action in line with the Personal Information Protection Act. Following the launch of the investigation on Feb. 29, Worldcoin has withdrawn six orbs devices in Korea and stopped accepting new members. It has also suspended the distribution of the Worldcoin token (WLD) to members who have already signed up, media outlet Chosun Biz reported.  Free crypto tokens in exchange for personal data For individuals who have their irises scanned, Worldcoin rewards three WLD tokens every two weeks, which are worth approximately $22.5 (KRW 30,000) at the time of writing. The price of WLD has soared by nearly ten-fold from about KRW 1,300 last year to over KRW 13,000 today, according to the data from the local crypto exchange Bithumb. This price surge followed OpenAI’s launch of a text-to-video AI tool, Sora. The current circulating supply of WLD stands at around 100 million tokens. According to Worldcoin’s white paper, the WLD’s total supply cap will remain fixed at 10 billion tokens during the first 15 years following its launch.  The data collected from the eyeball scanning is shared on the Worldcoin blockchain, which is protected by the zero-knowledge proof technology that prevents the data from being tracked or shared with other applications. The personal data remaining in the orbs devices is deleted.  Ongoing overseas investigation on Worldcoin South Korea is not the only country that is examining Worldcoin’s personal data collection practices. The project’s processing of information has raised concerns in other jurisdictions as well, including the U.K., France, Argentina and Kenya. In the U.S., the issuance of WLD tokens has been banned by the country’s authority. 

Korean Financial Watchdog to Penalize Bankers Involved in Illegal Foreign RemittancesThe Korean Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) recently completed an investigation into illegal foreign remittances of approximately 16 trillion KRW (~$12,137,718,400) that involved numerous bankers.©Unsplash/Paul FiedlerExploiting the kimchi premiumThe investigation, launched by the Korean financial watchdog last June, found that these lawbreakers sent funds to China, Hong Kong, and other overseas destinations through Korean crypto exchanges, trading firms, and bank branches with an aim of making money through arbitrage by taking the advantage of the kimchi premium, a term used to describe that the higher prices of crypto assets in Korean exchanges compared to their foreign counterparts.Bankers neglecting the KYC ruleSome of these bankers participated in the crime by raising the remittance cap and applying favorable exchange rates to trading companies that had no previous transaction records with banks. By law, bankers in Korea are obligated to follow the “know your customer” rule. It was found that 12 domestic banks and one futures firm were involved in this incident.The FSS has decided to impose strict penalties on these financial institutions, considering they were exploited for money laundering purposes. These entities are likely to have some of their services suspended, with the employees involved being fired.Accountability of top bankersOne key point to watch out for is whether the FSS would be able to hold executives accountable. Some say penalizing top bankers is not easy, given that it has to be proven that the employees’ criminal activities were due to a lack of executives’ internal control.The financial regulator recently announced plans to revise the law governing banks’ governance, but it is expected that such a bill would take some time to pass through the National Assembly.Through a revision of the law, the financial authority aims to hold top executives at financial institutions more responsible for serious financial accidents. It looks forward to bestowing top bankers with the obligation of comprehensive internal control management and making them accountable as an overall manager only in case of critical financial accidents. The term “top executives” in the bill will encompass not only bank presidents but also chairpersons of financial holding companies. More specific revision plans are expected to be revealed by the end of this month.