A recent survey by corporate networking firm Citrix has revealed that companies are ‘stockpiling’ bitcoin to use the cryptocurrency as ransom payment if faced with a ransomware attack.Over the years, cybercriminals have conducted phishing campaigns, hacking endeavors and DDoS attacks as effective means to engage in cybercrime.In recent times, the emergence of ransomware malware has targeted everyday individuals and large companies alike.The malware typically uses cryptography to encrypt a target’s files on the hard drive, demanding a ransom payment – typically in bitcoin – in exchange for the decryption key.Ransomware can disrupt operations across multiple industries and sectors in substantial ways.Critical institutions such as hospitals have also come under attack, leaving the administration no choice but to pay up the ransom demand to ensure that patient care isn’t affected.One report that studied the particularly troublesome Cryptowall strain of ransomware over 2015 estimated that the authors and cybercriminals behind the malware had raked in $325 million, in the year alone.

Hundreds of thousands of victims around the world were affected and made the ransom payment to recover their files.Another suggested that ransomware enabled by cryptocurrency could fuel the “largest crime wave in modern history.” Now, a recently commissioned survey by networking firm Citrix in the UK polled 250 IT and security specialists in companies housing 250 employees or more, across the region.The survey revealed over a third of polled UK companies admitting to gathering a stockpile of bitcoin, just to pay up in the case of a ransomware attack.Notably, large firms that employed 2,000 individuals or more were willing to pay over £50,000 ($72,450) in ransom to regain access to their files, likely to include business-critical data or intellectual property.The survey also revealed that smaller companies are far more likely to keep a ready supply of bitcoin, than larger businesses.Some of the other numbers thrown up in the survey are as below: Earlier this month, a professor at Cornell University stated that the university’s treasurer had created a Coinbase account to be prepared for ransomware attacks.

At Cornell, it was difficult to buy/own crypto for research.When ransomware came out, the treasurer created coinbase acct to be ready.litecoin mining rig— Emin Gün Sirer (@el33th4xor) June 2, 2016 The survey also put the spotlight on significant shortcomings from the polled companies, when it comes to cybersecurity.bitcoin wallet path48% or nearly half of the companies surveyed are failing to back up their data at least once a day.ethereal portable appsCybersecurity experts are near unanimous in suggesting that automated backups are the best line of defense against ransomware attacks.litecoin price tickerThe numbers that are shown above do not make for good reading as the very notion of stockpiling bitcoin is a submission that companies are willing to pay, a fact that is likely to foster further ransomware attacks from cybercriminals.bitcoin money laundering case

Survey: Enthusiasm for Ethereum Hit an All-Time High in Q1 CoinDesk highlights the results of a survey it conducted in Q1 on the state of the ethereum protocol and its sentiment among users.litecoin rss feedSource Keywords Features Ethereum Technology News State of Blockchain Featured Etherbitcoin difficulty predictionHomeNewsCrypto Bitcoiners Don’t Anticipate Coin-Split, According to Survey Crypto, Newsbitcoin miner usb testEvents All Events Courses Meet Ups Conferences Media SkillsCasts Community Groups About Us Venue Hire Monday, 21st November at CodeNode, London This meetup is run by ChainConf Bytes.bitcoin highs uk

Starts at 6:30 PM.Introduction to Blockchain and Ethereum According to a survey by the World Economic Forum, there could be as much as ten percent of world GDP on the blockchain by 2025, and much more soon after that.What is this new revolution you've been hearing about?How does it affect you, your career, and your business?David Siegel has been writing and speaking about technology issues for over 20 years.In this 90-minute talk, he explains the blockchain and Ethereum in plain english, from a business point of view, looking at the threats, the promises, and the realities of these amazing new technologies.This event is for: investors, board members, executives, managers, decision makers, disruptors, founders, venture capitalists, and technologists who don't know much about blockchain and want a solid conceptual foundation to build on.David Siegel David Siegel has been writing and speaking about technology issues for over 20 years.His current passion is Blockchain.Thanks to our sponsors @chelseadagger @codedude @bagolol @edem @hammadsoomro786 and others will be coming!

Log in to see who else is comingApril 6, 2017 in Blockchain, Podcast tags Bitcoin, blockchain applications, ConsenSys, Cryptocurrencies, Ethereum, Mike Goldin /sedaily/blockchainapps.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download Cryptocurrencies are not only a financial instrument–they are a new platform for building applications.The blockchain allows for new solutions to digital property management, micropayments, hedge fund incentives, and ad fraud.The cryptocurrency platforms with the most traction are Bitcoin and Ethereum.Bitcoin has no central leader and is going through some growing pains with governance issues.Ethereum is led by the charismatic Continue reading… October 27, 2016 in Blockchain, Podcast tags Bitcoin, Blockchain, Coin Center, Ethereum, Peter Van Valkenburgh /sedaily/coincenter_edited.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download Blockchain technologies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have not impacted the lives of most consumers today.

The theoretical breakthroughs that blockchain enables will eventually happen–I will be able to pay 1 cent to a knowledge worker in Africa without having to pay a 5 cent transaction fee.My servers will be able to pay other servers for small compute jobs.We will have decentralized Continue reading… October 19, 2015 in Blockchain, Podcast tags Bitcoin, Distributed Systems, Ethereum, Fintech “Nature, technology, and society ultimately will favor the more efficient, the better working systems.” Ethereum is a decentralized platform for applications that are guaranteed to run exactly as expected via smart contracts.Continue reading… September 1, 2015 in Blockchain, Podcast tags Bitcoin, Cryptography, Distributed Systems, Ethereum, Fintech, Ripple Ripple’s secure payment infrastructure puts distributed systems security theory to a real-world test.David Schwartz is Chief Cryptographer for Ripple Labs.Continue reading… August 22, 2015 in Blockchain, Podcast tags Bitcoin, Ethereum, Fintech /sedaily/ethereum_stephantual.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadEthereum reporting in the podcast media shows a large hype-to-substance ratio.

Technical and financial criticisms facing Ethereum are as real as those faced by bitcoin.This episode is a departure from Databases Week.Stephan Tual is CCO of Ethereum and founder of Ursium, a blockchain consulting company.Thanks to Reddit and Quora for questions.Questions Was Vitalik correct in his allocation of millions Continue reading… August 17, 2015 in Articles tags Bitcoin, Blockchain, Distributed Systems, Ethereum, Fintech, Payments Bitcoin was underestimated at the start of the week: “Bitcoin” is the naive marketing envoy, the minimum viable decentralized application, the introductory transaction vehicle for distributed, decentralized databases.The revolutionary technology is blockchain.This revolution is rooted in our global culture’s dissatisfaction with centralized, exploitative institutions and software.My belief was that Bitcoin is overrated, blockchain is underrated.This belief has been inverted.Bitcoin is the story of JavaScript all over Continue reading… August 16, 2015 in Blockchain, Podcast tags Bitcoin, Ethereum, Privacy, Security /sedaily/ethereum_aarondavis.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadEthereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud, or third-party interference.

Aaron Davis works on MetaMask, which brings Ethereum apps to the web browser.In this monologue episode, Aaron dives deep into the Ethereum internals, philosophy, and developer experience.Questions How does a blockchain represent a Merkle tree?Can a Continue reading… August 11, 2015 in Blockchain, Podcast tags Bitcoin, Blockchain, Economics, Ethereum, Government, Ripple, Stellar /sedaily/melanie_blockchains.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBlockchains are the distributed ledger technology underlying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.More broadly, a blockchain is a mechanism for updating truth states in distributed network computing, producing consensus trust and serving as a new form of general computational substrate.Melanie Swan is a science and technology innovator and philosopher at the MS Futures Group.She founded the Institute for Blockchain Studies, and is the Continue reading… August 9, 2015 in Articles tags Blockchain, Consensus, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar Bitcoin Week is the third theme of Software Engineering Daily.