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Is Coinbase Closing Accounts For Paying Ransoms With Bitcoins? (coindesk.com)
Even as some comparnies are stockpiling bitcoins so they can quickly pay ransom demands, security firms that try paying those ransoms may face losing their accounts on Coinbase. Slashdot reader Mosquito Bites quotes a report from CoinDesk:
Less than a year ago, Vinny Troia, CEO and principal security consultant of Night Lion Security and a certified white hat hacker, was sent a compliance form by US bitcoin exchange Coinbase, where he had an account. Coinbase wanted to know how Troia was using bitcoin and his account. "I told them I run a security firm. I pay for ransoms and buy documents on the dark web when clients request it," Troia told CoinDesk. The ransoms Troia helps his clients pay are those stemming from ransomware attacks, which have surged in number over the past few years. Many, like the well-publicized WannaCry attack, are asking for bitcoin.
And the documents? Troia said, "We do breach investigations a lot of times. If a fraudster is saying they're selling my client's stolen documents, the only way to make sure they have what they say they have is to buy those documents." According to Troia, Coinbase "did not like that at all." Coinbase then asked the IT expert whether he had a letter from the Department of Justice giving him permission to do those things. No, Troia said. Upon further research, Troia has not found that any such permission exists. But, "I have my clients authorizing me to do this," he said. Coinbase sent Troia back an email explaining that those actions were against the exchange's rules and shut down his account... "My entire family is blocked from Coinbase," he said.
And the documents? Troia said, "We do breach investigations a lot of times. If a fraudster is saying they're selling my client's stolen documents, the only way to make sure they have what they say they have is to buy those documents." According to Troia, Coinbase "did not like that at all." Coinbase then asked the IT expert whether he had a letter from the Department of Justice giving him permission to do those things. No, Troia said. Upon further research, Troia has not found that any such permission exists. But, "I have my clients authorizing me to do this," he said. Coinbase sent Troia back an email explaining that those actions were against the exchange's rules and shut down his account... "My entire family is blocked from Coinbase," he said.
Good.
It's because asshole pricks like your clients buy bitcoins, pay the ransom, then go complaining to their bank or credit card provider that the payment was unauthorised or a result of blackmail, and try to do a chargeback against the innocent bitcoin merchant. Or gets them locked out of their accounts while being investigated for fraud.
So you can just fuck off and buy your bitcoins somewhere else.
Liberals don't hate all other religions, they want them to stop meddling in the business of people who aren't part of their own religion (secularism). Many liberals are religious, and Repubs being the base of the majority of Christians is a distinctly American oddity.
Lefties apologise for Islam for the same reason we apologise for Russians, Syrians, Gaddafi, Mexicans, Blacks and every other oppressed minority in the US. We don't base our views on TV or news, which try to hide the fact we are bullys. We base it on what we see and hear from real relationships and understand that just as the US government is liable to attack some country who personally we quite like, most other countries committing atrocities and hurting people do not have the support of the populace behind them. If a US drone kills 20 Ethiopian reporters in a friendly fire incident, nobody in Africa calls for blood but should the reverse be true there would be an uproar.
We also get that your religion is mostly the fault of your parents and geolocation.
Finally Islam is not some terrorist gang. It has 2 radical dudes at the 5000 guest wedding at most. Then maybe a few others will jump in purely because family, home and heart is being invaded. America needed something other than China and Russia to trouble because they can't afford to bat at the Superbowl for the next few decades.
Coinbase sent Troia back an email explaining that those actions were against the exchange's rules and shut down his account.
That seems reasonable. Coinbase is an american company. There are laws against financing or facilitating the financing of terrorist and/or criminal activities.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
There speaks someone who is totally clueless and has been radicalized by Alex Jones and his ilk.
I was brought up in a multicultural area of a large city. I had (and still have) friends who are Muslims, Jews and probably other religions. Guess what, they are no different from my Christian family. They may worship differently from me, but they have the same values and the same outlook on life. They certainly have no interest in changing the law to fit their beliefs or converting the country to their religion.
They go to work every day, they love their families, they give to charity, they have the same concerns as me, and they enjoy life in the community. In short, they are fully integrated and indistinguishable unless you look at the way they worship.
There are extremists of all faiths. Including Christians. The post I'm replying to is a prime example. He (or she) probably doesn't know any Muslims and is an avid reader of alt-right web sites spewing incorrect garbage - no different in their aims from the ISIS sites doing the same.
Hate is the enemy. The people who want to create a religious war are the enemy. These are the people who look for the lonely, the people who are easily persuaded, the people who are marginally ill mentally, the people who were brought up in households that advocated violence. They use them to foment more hate in the hope that a religious war will be the eventual result.