the-largest-crypto-hacking-event-is-here-for-the-8th-time-with-the-best-challenges-and-highest-prizes

The largest crypto hacking event is here for the 8th time with the best challenges and highest prizes

 

With record-high crypto breaches starting 2022 amounting over $1b in Q1, crypto pioneers Six and Silur pushed CCTF, the largest legal crypto hacking competition to the next level. Organized for the 8th time, the hacking competition has a history of creating real-world cryptocurrency and blockchain puzzles for security experts in order to raise general awareness in this new type of critical infrastrucutre.

The winners of the preliminary round are gathering in Dubai on 7th of May to conduct the final hacking showdown for the $15.000 prize on a yacht, provided with a Web3 environment for the puzzles with the addition of some social engineering elements.

In the past we’ve seen challenges involving breaking weak cryptography, reversing smart-contract bytecode and fuzzing networks, but this time the team also made part of the challenge happening in the Metaverse. In the preliminary round, which happened on April 8. 2022, players were expected to solve OSINT tasks inside Decentraland, which introduced cybersecurity inside metaverse for the first time.

“Sometimes the best hackers stay invisible either working at Big Four companies or in a completely non-technical environment, and only show off their real skills on IRC chats and CTFs. But as CTF games lately began to decline in quality, the security industry is losing access to these people. We wanted to show both the competitors and the sponsors how we can hack the old way of matchmaking with the games centered around the players, not the organizers HR needs”. ~ Silur

The story of CCTF originally started as a fun home project, which quickly drew attention both in number of competitors and sponsorships, and became the largest CTF that focuses on cryptocurrency and blockchain. The main organizers, which consist of Security expert and auditor David (Six) Pethes and former Ethereum developer Silur, are committing to CCTF remaining a non-profit event that benefits from the security awareness it creates trough their realistic challenges. In their opinion, the CTF scene has become focused on exercises tailor-made around exotic exploits in order for HR to find  security experts, but these type of hacks are rarely seen in the wild and creates confusion in the industry.

panamax-infotech-limited-is-now-a-great-place-to-work-certified

Panamax Infotech Limited Is Now a Great Place to Work-Certified™

 

Panamax Infotech Limited has been Great Place to Work®-Certified in India (from March 2022 to March 2023).

Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Their employee survey platform empowers leaders with the feedback, real-time reporting, and insights they need to make strategic people decisions. The Institute serves businesses, nonprofits and government agencies in more than 60 countries and has conducted pioneering research on the characteristics of great workplaces for over three decades.

“This recognition is first and foremost a testament to staff who every day make Panamax a great place to work by embodying our core values including teamwork, decency and fairness, and collaborative team”
– Jignesh Joshi – EVP Business Operations

In India, the institute partners with more than 1100 organizations annually across over 22 industries to help them build High-Trust, High-Performance Cultures™ designed to deliver sustained business results. Hundreds of CEOs and CXOs from India Inc. are part of the great place community that is committed to the vision of making India a great place to work FOR ALL™.

The Institute’s research shows that great workplaces are characterized by great leadership, consistent employee experience, and sustainable financial performance. These organizations are able to deliver a consistent experience to all their employees irrespective of their role, gender, tenure or level in the organization. Their leaders believe in the vision of creating and sustaining a Great Place to Work FOR ALL and role model being ‘FOR ALL’ Leaders.

evolution-launches-super-andar-bahar,-indian-classic-with-added-massive-multipliers

Evolution launches Super Andar Bahar, Indian Classic with added massive multipliers

Reading Time: < 1 minute

 

Evolution today announced the launch of Super Andar Bahar, a unique online version of the traditional Indian card game that includes optional, super-engaging side bets for the chance of multiplied payouts of up to 4,000x.

In the main game, players simply predict on which side of the table – the Bahar side or the Andar side – a card will be dealt that matches the first-dealt card, referred to as the ‘Joker’ or sometimes the ‘house card’. Evolution’s new online version is faithful to the traditional game but adds ten entirely optional, easy-to-understand side bets. The aim in the side bets is to predict when the matching card will be dealt and offer the potential for greatly multiplied wins with between one and five random multipliers being randomly applied to the side bet odds in every game round.

Todd Haushalter, Chief Product Officer at Evolution, said: “Central to our product strategy is giving players everything they want and even some things they don’t know they want. We are delighted to have done just that by bringing a super-special version of the Indian classic Andar Bahar to Evolution’s live casino. Andar Bahar is well known throughout India and it’s a great game how it is. However, we could not resist the temptation to spice it up a little with a series of side bets that allow players to win astronomically high multipliers, which is something we felt was missing from this superb game.”

Haushalter continued: “I think players are going to appreciate how we kept the base game traditional in every way but added this fun twist as an optional side bet. And there’s more to come! To further support this market, we will be launching another popular Indian card game, Teen Patti, later this year.”

cyber-insurer-boxx-fills-gap-between-insurance-and-security-with-virtual-ciso-for-small-business

Cyber insurer BOXX fills gap between insurance and security with Virtual CISO for Small Business

 

Fast-growing cyber insurance start-up BOXX Insurance today announced the launch of Virtual CISO (vCISO), an enhanced service that makes it easier and more affordable for small to mid-sized businesses (SMEs) to stay ahead of crippling cyber outages.

BOXX vCISO signals the development of BOXX as a ‘first of its kind’ cyber insurer for Canadian businesses that provides an all-in-one solution: advisory services, managed cyber security and cyber insurance.

Recent research reports the number of cyberattacks against SMEs in every industry jumped by at least 50% last year. Attacks targeting the healthcare and transportation sectors were the highest, rising by more than 125%. Incidents leveled against retail, manufacturing and professional services companies increased between 86% and 90%.

BOXX’s newest service comes at a crucial time of unprecedented change and increasing digital dependency for SMEs that are also expected to meet higher security thresholds demanded by their enterprise clients, regulators and cyber insurers. “With cyber threats growing daily in both sophistication and frequency, many business owners and operators know there is a widening gap between what they have and the security horsepower their cyber insurer and enterprise clients require. We are here to fill that gap,” said Neal Jardine, BOXX Global Cyber Risk Intelligence and Claims Director. “Their dilemma is where to go for help”.

The BOXX vCISO service addresses this gap by providing business owners with the confidence they need to meet the increasing expectations from insurers, clients and regulators without the burden of expensive security hardware and personnel to manage it. The service is provided by a team of cyber security experts and risk management professionals with a deep history in cyber security, incident response and insurance claims.

BOXX appoints Jack Brooks as Head of BOXX Hackbusters
BOXX also announced the appointment of Jack Brooks as Head of BOXX Hackbusters. Brooks brings deep domain expertise, having formerly created the vCISO practice in a leading international MSSP and successively senior technology leadership roles in both public and private enterprises prior to this.

“By helping smaller firms close their cyber security gap, we are not only protecting the vitality of their business, we are protecting the communities they support. These are our customers – and your friends and neighbours – not some enormous, faceless enterprise, but the hundreds of thousands of businesses who are struggling to meet the daily onslaught of cyber-attacks,” Jardine concludes.

altsaxis’-mobile-first-alternative-investment-ecosystem-bringing-allocators-&-managers-together-goes-live

AltsAxis’ Mobile-First Alternative Investment Ecosystem Bringing Allocators & Managers Together Goes Live

 

AltsAxis LLC — the creators of a conflict-free, data-driven and mobile-first solution facilitating connections between alternative asset managers and family offices, pensions, endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, RIAs and wealth managers — announced today that its AXIS platform is now live.

The AXIS platform is a first-of-its-kind solution that standardizes alternative investment data and organizes it into a searchable database with the latest in social connectivity. It fills a void in the market that is rife with inefficiencies that currently make it difficult to get up-to-date, accurate and useful information all in one place.

The announcement comes as shifts in the macro investment landscape are creating greater demand for a wide range of alternative investment vehicles, including private equity, venture capital, private credit, real estate funds and hedge funds. With volatility on the rise and the Federal Reserve tightening its rate policy for the first time since 2018, passive strategies and portfolios with outsize exposure to equities could underperform in the years to come.

Benefits of the AXIS platform include:

  • Free access for allocators and alternative asset managers to create a profile and engage on the platform.
  • Advanced search functionality and algorithms empower allocators and managers to seek out one another via 130+ unique filters.
  • Continuously updated data sets on alternative asset managers including performance, investment focus, fees, structure and regulatory filings coupled with dynamic analytics.
  • Access to a host of social connectivity features to enhance the platform experience including building connections, suggested connections, creating watch lists, following managers, on-demand calling, video conferencing and meeting schedulers.
  • A truly mobile-first application that recognizes that investment and asset management professionals leverage smartphones and other mobile devices to work at anytime, anywhere.

“We have built the leading-edge fintech platform to unify the historically fragmented alternative investment space on one intuitive, transparent digital community accessible on mobile devices,” said Mark Salameh, Founder and CEO of AltsAxis LLC. “Our ecosystem simplifies — and optimizes — the sourcing of alternative strategies for family offices, institutional investors and wealth managers. But we also go a step further by creating opportunities for alternative asset managers, institutional investors allocating to alts and their strategic partners to engage and find out more about one another, so they can make well-informed decisions for meeting their goals and facilitating growth.”

Mr. Salameh launched AltsAxis last year along with an established team of entrepreneurs, including Sarah Sisnett (Chief Operating Officer), Jason Cholewa (Chief Revenue Officer) and Kate Rincon (Director of Investor Relations). Mr. Salameh previously co-founded Context Summits, which produced capital introduction events for the alternative investment industry.

As an extension of the sourcing and relationship-building aspect of its platform, the company has also developed a series of conferences focused on helping allocators and managers explore business opportunities.

The first one, VegasAXIS, is slated for May 11-13, 2022, at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas (Click here to register). A fall event, CaliAXIS, is scheduled for Oct. 19-21 at the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort & Club in Dana Point, Calif. (Click here to pre-register.)

“The combination of unbiased, clean and real-time data with virtual and in-person engagement creates a powerful platform for centering the world of alternative investments around asset managers, allocators and strategic partners,” said Sarah Sisnett, Chief Operating Officer of AltsAxis LLC. “The AXIS ecosystem provides information, insights and tools to operate efficiently, and effectively.”

Learn more about the AXIS platform and request a demo at https://altsaxis.com/about/.

bitget-enters-india-amidst-crypto-taxation-policies

Bitget enters India amidst crypto taxation policies

 

Bitget the leading derivatives exchange has announced its entry into India to provide a secure, and compliant platform for crypto futures, derivatives and one-click copy trading. This strategic decision comes right after the newly levied crypto taxation policies in India.

As per the current crypto regulations in the region, capital gains or profits on cryptocurrencies will be taxed at 30% with an additional TDS tax of 1% on all trading transactions.

“We’ve received an overwhelming demand for support from India. At Bitget we’re constantly looking to grow and expand by creating a safe and transparent environment to drive mass adoption,” said Sandra Lou, CEO and Co-founder, Bitget.

India based crypto traders exceed the population of several countries, with over 100 million users holding digital assets. Our mission is to provide a secure platform to interact with digital assets and provide support to nations fostering its growth,” she added.

To simplify crypto taxation, Bitget has partnered up with Koinly, a leading crypto taxation software which can be utilized to calculate taxes in regions like India, and 19 other countries.

Bitget’s entry in the Indian market will be followed by strategic hiring and crypto community development with the aim to contribute to crypto and blockchain’s growth.

tvbet-expands-its-presence-in-poland-through-a-deal-with-gobet

TVBET expands its presence in Poland through a deal with GoBet

Reading Time: 2 minutes

 

Live games provider TVBET has announced a new deal with Polish bookmaker Go+Bet to expand its presence in Europe. Under the agreement, three chosen games will be available for betting for Go+Bet’s clients.

TVBET is committed to sustained growth in Poland, and the recent partnership with Go+Bet is yet another step in that direction. The B2B provider is known for offering odds-based live games and lotteries, which have been adapted for the online streaming format. TVBET games are broadcast around the globe from a single studio located in Warsaw, Poland. And now punters may try betting on three TVBET live games at Go+Bet bookmaker.

Go+Bet is a fairly young online bookmaker that already offers various entertainments for punters. Among Go+Bet offerings, players may bet on sports like football, basketball, hockey, tennis, darts, etc, esports, virtual sports. Along with the usual bets like on the winner of a given game, broker allows predicting the number of corners, who will get a yellow card, who will score a hat-trick or a penalty, etc. And from now on, Go+Bet players may bet on three TVBET live card games:

  • BlackJack – one of the most famous and popular card games in the world, the goal of which is to predict which side will score 21 points or the closest number of points to 21.
  • Teen Patti – an Indian game, which is similar to Poker.
  • Poker – a popular live-game that follows the well-known rules of Texas Hold’em Poker.

Mateusz Banaś, GO+Bet Marketing Director, has commented: “As GO+Bet, we are delighted that in the very core of our business we partner with the acclaimed international TVBET is definitely an important element in our player entertainment portfolio. We want to maintain a high level and surprise customers, giving them even more. We want to eliminate the gray area by offering, as the only ones in Poland, play without taxes for all games, without any additional requirements, and we boast the widest sports offer for all competitions. We want to change the situation in the market in accordance with our motto: #zmieniamyzasadygry”.

It should be recalled that not so long ago TVBET launched Poker specially for the Polish market. All these steps are maid to strengthen the provider’s position in its homeland, Poland. While adding TVBET games into the portfolio, the Go+Bet bookmaker will diversify its portfolio and attract even more bettors.

 

chainbytes-deploys-bitcoin-atm-in-mexico’s-senate-building

ChainBytes Deploys Bitcoin ATM in Mexico’s Senate Building

 

Bitcoin ATM manufacturer ChainBytes in cooperation with Mexican based Bitcoin ATM operator Axolotl Bitcoin deployed a Bitcoin ATM on the floor of the Mexican Senate (SENADO DE LA REPÚBLICA) located in Mexico City in support of the efforts of Mexican Senator Indira Kempis on making Bitcoin a legal tender in Mexico.

In an effort to get Mexico’s lawmakers on board, Senator Kempis in cooperation with ChainBytes, an enterprise Bitcoin ATM manufacturer and Axolotl Bitcoin a Mexican-based Bitcoin ATM operator has revealed and put in the operation first Bitcoin ATM at the Mexican Senate building.

For many of these lawmakers, this will be the first time they will experience Bitcoin transactions first hand. Senator Kempis hopes that by deploying this ATM, lawmakers will now have a chance to get familiar with Bitcoin transactions and become more educated about Bitcoin and the benefits that mass adoption could potentially bring to their country.
ChainBytes CEO Eric Grill stated: “We are thrilled to be a part of such a historical moment for Mexico. We hope that by placing our ChainBytes ATM in the senate building we will help lawmakers get familiar with the technology and hopefully aid their decision to accept Bitcoin as a legal tender in Mexico. We are excited and honored to be here and we are doing our best to help these lawmakers understand the advantages of Bitcoin.”

“We are excited with the current openness in the Mexican Senate, and with Senator Indira Kempis’ effort to bring this Bitcoin ATM and help towards a Bitcoin Regulation that could detonate the Bitcoin and Fintech industry in Mexico as it has happened in other countries. I have been meeting with Regulators and Central Banks for the last 10 years, finally we are seeing interest, will, curiosity and participation with Regulators and lawmakers in Mexico.” Jose Rodriguez, Director of Blockchain Land and CEO of Axolotl Bitcoin. 
The Bitcoin ATM will remain operational in the senate building allowing lawmakers to get familiar with Bitcoin in the coming months before they have a chance to discuss and vote on Senator Kempis petition of making bitcoin a legal tender in Mexico.
On the first week the Bitcoin ATM will be available on the first floor of the Mexican Senate, afterwards it will be available for future workshops and events in the Senate and in Senator Indira Kempis’ offices.

ChainBytes is a US veteran-owned Bitcoin ATM software and hardware provider, focused on providing Bitcoin ATMs to enterprise operators.

resecurity-showcases-cyber-threat-intelligence-solutions-at-fidae-aerospace-&-defense-2022

Resecurity Showcases Cyber Threat Intelligence Solutions at FIDAE Aerospace & Defense 2022

 

Resecurity®, a cybersecurity and intelligence company, recently exhibited its threat intelligence and risk management solutions at the FIDAE 2022 conference in Santiago de ChileSouth America. Hosted April 5-10, 2022, FIDAE is the fifth largest air and space fair globally, and the most important in Latin America, bringing together 46 countries, more than 420 exhibitors and hundreds of official delegations and leaders from around the world.

As Latin America continues to digitize its economy, they have faced record numbers of cybersecurity threats experiencing nearly three million cyberattacks in the first three months of 2020 alone.1To help organizations overcome this challenge, this year’s FIDAE conference brought technology and intelligence leaders together to help aerospace and aviation organizations better detect, mitigate and respond to cyber risks in today’s ever-changing threat landscape.

Focused on the security of the aviation industry for the military, public and private sectors, Resecurity showcased its cyber threat intelligence platform that allows administrators to reduce security gaps by quickly seeing in-depth analysis and specific artifacts obtained through the dark web, botnets activity, network intelligence and high-quality threat intelligence data.

“For high-stakes and technical industries like aerospace and aviation, it is critical to have visibility into your digital ecosystem and real-time threat intelligence to keep your organization, brand and staff safe. Increased connectivity and a larger threat surface only raise these stakes. Resecurity looks forward to building on the connections made at FIDAE to provide the security and risk management tailored to the unique needs of the aviation and aerospace industry,” said Gene Yoo, CEO of Resecurity, Inc.

Particularly relevant for the aerospace and aviation sectors, Resecurity also highlighted risk intelligence innovations designed to identify and score the network, identity, technology and geographical risks within an organization’s security ecosystem. Resecurity exhibited its cyber intelligence platform alongside industry leaders including Rafael, Airbus, SIS DEF, DECSEF, L3 Harris Technologies, Lockheed Martin, Milex and more.

how-the-ukrainian-war-pushed-up-the-price-of-cryptocurrencies-by-doctor-troller-aka-andrew-brown

How the Ukrainian War Pushed Up The Price of Cryptocurrencies by Doctor Troller aka Andrew Brown

 

In the month following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Bitcoin rose 25% and Ethereum around 34%.

Following the sanctions imposed on Russia and its businesses the ruble collapsed and crypto exchanges saw a substantial rise in transactions from rubles into crypto.

These transactions weren’t just from wealthy oligarchs trying to save assets from confiscation overseas, but also regular Russian citizens trying to save their cash assets from being devalued in early March when the ruble fell off a cliff.

The worry was that many Russian oligarchs would escape financial sanctions via crypto, but crypto entrepreneur Doctor Troller, aka Andew Brown says this isn’t that easy to do.

He said: “Crypto transactions can all be tracked, so large movements of assets would be spotted by exchanges and authorities. Big exchanges will insist on doing KYC (Know Your Customer) due diligence on transactions and will have global watchlists for banned Russian oligarchs and can block transactions from IP addresses belonging to sanctioned individuals or entities.

“That’s not to say that they can’t get third-parties to attempt transactions for them but they would be wary of trusting others with their assets in such a way.”

Brown thinks the surge in prices at the start of the war came from large numbers of regular Russians try to sell off their rubles for less volatile crypto-currrency like Tether, a stablecoin which is tied to the price of the US Dollar. At the time of going to press (19th April 2022) there were no laws preventing exchanges taking rubles from ordinary Russians trying to use crypto as a lifeline to protect their assets.

Brown said: “The volume of trade in Tether went up considerably in early March when sanctions started to bite and the ruble halved in value in a week.”

Since the start of the war the huge increases on cryptocurrencies have levelled out and are now just above what they were at the start of the war, although the volume of trade in Tether is still up 12% on pre-war levels. There are still volatile movements in the market for other digital currencies, which means that crypto is still a risky investment even in times of war.

It’s not just Russians that have been using cryptocurrency since the war started at the end of February. The Ukrainian government has received over £100 million in cryptocurrency donations for their war effort from well-wishers around the world.

Brown said: “Ukrainian officials posted addresses for two crypto wallets on their twitter account which attracted more than $10m in four days and now over 10 times that amount in the past month. The authorities in Ukraine have said it will be spent on daily rations and bullet-proof vests and helmets, and they are keen to use blockchain technology to help rebuild their country after the war is over. So hopefully crypto currencies can be instrumental in helping those who have lost so much in the past month.”