Bitcoin Daily: Bitcoin-Stealing Malware Attacks 700K Websites; Blockchain Tackles Renewable Energy Trading

Canada’s St. Francis Xavier University of Nova Scotia (StFX) had to temporarily shut down its entire network due to a crypto-jacking attack.

“The malicious software attempted to utilize StFX’s collective computing power in order to create or discover bitcoin for monetary gain. At this time, there is no evidence that any personal information within our network was breached, however, ITS will continue to analyze and monitor for suspicious activity in the days and weeks ahead. ITS has also implemented heightened security measures in response to this event,” the school revealed in a press release.

The attack was discovered on Thursday (November 1) and the lockdown lasted for nearly four days. As of today (November 7), some services have now been restored such as Wifi, Moodle, DCB and debit transactions, among others.

In the meantime, cryptocurrency hackers attacked traffic analytics service StatCounter to steal bitcoin from users of online exchange desk Gate.io.

The attack was so big that more than 688,000 websites were caught loading the malicious script, according to The Next Web. As a result, Gate.io has removed StatCounter from its website, and is urging its users to enable two-factor authentication and two-step login protection.

In other news, Singapore is utilizing blockchain to introduce changes to its renewal energy trade. Similar to the carbon trading system, local companies can now buy and sell renewable energy certificates (RECs) that represent a unit of green energy production such as wind or solar power. And as of last week, companies can now use a blockchain-powered system for their REC trading.

Utilities provider SP Group, which launched the platform, said it will allow for better transparency and lower costs in trading, as well as eventually facilitate cross-border energy credit trading.

“A consumer in Singapore who wishes to buy green energy can now, through blockchain-powered REC trading, purchase a REC from a hydro-producer based in Laos,” SP Group CEO Wong Kim Yin told CNBC at the Singapore International Energy Week conference last week. “This reduces the cost, reduces the friction in the market.”

And the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced that it is now in the testing phase of its project to re-platform its credit derivatives Trade Information Warehouse (TIW) on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and cloud.

At this time, 15 of the world’s largest global banks are conducting end-to-end, structured user acceptance tests. Upon successful completion, DTCC expects to move to an “open” testing phase by the end of the year.

“The transformation of DTCC’s Trade Information Warehouse using distributed ledger and cloud technology, along with the modernization of MarkitSERV’s confirmation system, is truly a ground-breaking effort pushing the boundaries of technology use in the industry,” Chris Childs, CEO of DTCC DerivSERV said in a press release. “We are proud to be collaborating with a number of the world’s leading banks, MarkitSERV and all our partners on this exciting initiative to revolutionize the derivative industry’s credit market infrastructure. We look forward to launching the service next year.”