UNC5142 exploits blockchain smart contracts and WordPress flaws to deliver stealer malware worldwide.
Category: blockchains
ASI Risks: Similar premises, opposite conclusions | Eliezer Yudkowsky vs Mark Miller
A debate/discussion on ASI (artificial superintelligence) between Foresight Senior Fellow Mark S. Miller and MIRI founder Eliezer Yudkowsky. Sharing similar long-term goals, they nevertheless reach opposite conclusions on best strategy.
“What are the best strategies for addressing risks from artificial superintelligence? In this 4-hour conversation, Eliezer Yudkowsky and Mark Miller discuss their cruxes for disagreement. While Eliezer advocates an international treaty that bans anyone from building it, Mark argues that such a pause would make an ASI singleton more likely – which he sees as the greatest danger.”
What are the best strategies for addressing extreme risks from artificial superintelligence? In this 4-hour conversation, decision theorist Eliezer Yudkowsky and computer scientist Mark Miller discuss their cruxes for disagreement.
They examine the future of AI, existential risk, and whether alignment is even possible. Topics include AI risk scenarios, coalition dynamics, secure systems like seL4, hardware exploits like Rowhammer, molecular engineering with AlphaFold, and historical analogies like nuclear arms control. They explore superintelligence governance, multipolar vs singleton futures, and the philosophical challenges of trust, verification, and control in a post-AGI world.
Moderated by Christine Peterson, the discussion seeks the least risky strategy for reaching a preferred state amid superintelligent AI risks. Yudkowsky warns of catastrophic outcomes if AGI is not controlled, while Miller advocates decentralizing power and preserving human institutions as AI evolves.
Malicious npm Packages Exploit Ethereum Smart Contracts to Target Crypto Developers
Cybersecurity researchers have discovered two new malicious packages on the npm registry that make use of smart contracts for the Ethereum blockchain to carry out malicious actions on compromised systems, signaling the trend of threat actors constantly on the lookout for new ways to distribute malware and fly under the radar.
“The two npm packages abused smart contracts to conceal malicious commands that installed downloader malware on compromised systems,” ReversingLabs researcher Lucija Valentić said in a report shared with The Hacker News.
Researchers Demonstrate QuantumShield-BC Blockchain Framework
Researchers have developed QuantumShield-BC, a blockchain framework designed to resist attacks from quantum computers by integrating post-quantum cryptography (PQC) utilising algorithms such as Dilithium and SPHINCS+, quantum key distribution (QKD), and quantum Byzantine fault tolerance (Q-BFT) leveraging quantum random number generation (QRNG) for unbiased leader selection. The framework was tested on a controlled testbed with up to 100 nodes, demonstrating resistance to simulated quantum attacks and achieving fairness through QRNG-based consensus. An ablation study confirmed the contribution of each quantum component to overall security, although the QKD implementation was simulated and scalability to larger networks requires further investigation.
Abacus dark web drug market goes offline in suspected exit scam
Abacus Market, the largest Western darknet marketplace supporting Bitcoin payments, has shut down its public infrastructure in a move suspected to be an exit scam.
Exit scams occur when the operator of a marketplace decides to vanish with the money they hold in escrow for various transactions between platform users.
Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs reports that Abacus shutting down so abruptly has all the indications of either an exit scam or a covert law enforcement operation dismantling the activity.
From Blockchain to Brainwaves: Coinbase Co-Founder Fred Ehrsam Enters the Neurotech Race with Non-Invasive BCI Startup Nudge
Fred Ehrsam, billionaire co-founder of Coinbase, is shifting his next big bet from cryptocurrency to the human brain, unveiling a non-invasive brain-computer interface designed to modulate brain activity with sound waves.
Ehrsam’s entry as the latest competitor to join the race to develop accessible brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) follows similar recent efforts from tech leaders like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates.
On April 8, Ehrsam’s startup, Nudge, unveiled its first product, the Nudge Zero. A noninvasive brain interface device that uses ultrasound to modulate brain activity, the technology represents the first start-up venture to pursue this unique approach with BCI technology.
Mathematicians Uncover Hidden Patterns Behind $3.5 Billion Cryptocurrency Collapse
A recent study published in ACM Transactions on the Web by researchers at Queen Mary University of London sheds new light on one of the most significant collapses in cryptocurrency history: the crash of the TerraUSD stablecoin and its sister token, LUNA. The research team uncovered evidence of suspicious, large-scale trading activity that may point to a coordinated effort to destabilize the ecosystem, triggering a rapid $3.5 billion loss in market value.
Led by Dr. Richard Clegg, the study uses temporal multilayer graph analysis, an advanced method for tracking dynamic and interconnected systems over time. By applying this technique to transaction data from the Ethereum blockchain, the researchers were able to trace complex relationships between cryptocurrencies and pinpoint how TerraUSD was systematically undermined through a series of calculated trades.
Stablecoins like TerraUSD are designed to maintain a steady value, typically pegged to a fiat currency like the US dollar. However, in May 2022, TerraUSD and its sister currency, LUNA, experienced a catastrophic collapse. Dr. Clegg’s research sheds light on how this happened, uncovering evidence of a coordinated attack by traders who were betting against the system, a practice known as “shorting.”
Mathematicians uncover the hidden patterns behind a $3.5 billion cryptocurrency collapse
In a new study published in ACM Transactions on the Web, researchers from Queen Mary University of London have unveiled the intricate mechanisms behind one of the most dramatic collapses in the cryptocurrency world: the downfall of the TerraUSD stablecoin and its associated currency, LUNA. Using advanced mathematical techniques and cutting-edge software, the team has identified suspicious trading patterns that suggest a coordinated attack on the ecosystem, leading to a catastrophic loss of $3.5 billion in value virtually overnight.
The study, led by Dr. Richard Clegg and his team, employs temporal multilayer graph analysis—a sophisticated method for examining complex, interconnected systems over time. This approach allowed the researchers to map the relationships between different cryptocurrencies traded on the Ethereum blockchain, revealing how the TerraUSD stablecoin was destabilized by a series of deliberate, large-scale trades.
Stablecoins like TerraUSD are designed to maintain a steady value, typically pegged to a fiat currency like the US dollar. However, in May 2022, TerraUSD and its sister currency, LUNA, experienced a catastrophic collapse. Dr. Clegg’s research sheds light on how this happened, uncovering evidence of a coordinated attack by traders who were betting against the system, a practice known as “shorting.”
Web3 Is The Home For Autonomous Consumer AI Agents
AI agents need two things to succeed in this space: infinite scalability and the ability to connect agents from different blockchains. Without the former, agents do not have infrastructure with sufficient capacity to transact. Without the latter, agents would be off on their own island blockchains, unable to truly connect with each other. As agent actions become more complex on chain, more of their data will also have to live on the ledger, making optimizing for both of these factors important right now.
Because of all of this, I believe the next frontier of AI agents on blockchains is in gaming, where their training in immersive worlds will inevitably lead to more agentic behavior crossing over to non-gaming consumer spaces.
If the future of autonomous consumer AI agents sounds scary, it is because we have not yet had a way to independently verify LLM training models or the actions of AI agents so far. Blockchain provides the necessary transparency and transaction security so that this inevitable phenomenon can operate on safer rails. I believe the final home for these AI agents will be Web3.
Japanese Scientist Develops ‘Living’ Skin For Robots! #shorts
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GM. Nothing here is financial advice, dyor. These are NFT Projects I am currently interested in. What is an NFT? A NFT is a non-fungible token that is a non-interchangeable unit of data stored on the blockchain, which is a form of digital ledger. The most common one is bitcoin, a cryptocurrency. NFTs can be digital files such as photos, videos or audio. Although we like NFTs such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, Doodles, CryptoPunks, Cool Cats, and VeeFriends…The NFTs we are mainly interested in have certain utility or membership tied to them. #Shorts