Australian Finance Group’s half-year financial results on Friday were a sign of the times, reaffirming the unrelenting march of the mortgage broker.

CBA NAB ASX: Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank grapple with the rise and rise of mortgage brokers

A view of the Commonwealth Bank building facade in the Sydney Central Business District, in Sydney, Australia, May 14, 2024.

Australia's CBA first-half profit climbs as economic pain for consumers wanes | Reuters

What happens when major events like LIV Golf Adelaide, AFL Gather Round and the Adelaide Fringe roll into town? From packed hotels to thriving bars, we talk to the businesses who feel the effects firsthand.

Commonwealth Bank delivers bumper $5.1b profit - News | InDaily, Inside South Australia

Colm Murphy will defend his Commonwealth silver featherweight title at the Ulster Hall on Saturday, 1 February live across BBC Sport NI.

Murphy to defend Commonwealth title live on BBC Sport - Yahoo Sports

The head of the Jersey Pistol Association says he is disappointed shooting has not been included at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Jersey shooters saddened by Commonwealth omission - Yahoo Sports

The fastest path to clean, limitless fusion energy.

Home | Commonwealth Fusion Systems

<strong>Commonwealth</strong> Fund grantees and staff experts focus on our health care system’s most pressing issues.

Home | Commonwealth Fund

Commonwealth

commonwealth

, the powerful, all-in-one platform for early-stage investments, today announces the launch of a world-first initiative: a Free “earn-to-own'' VC Fund. This launch represents a completely novel fusion of community-driven Web3 principles with the sophistication of venture capital investment. The initiative will see Common Wealth’s first fund opening up the venture capital sector to the masses, ensuring that the power of early-stage access in Web3 is now in the hands of the community it serves. Common Wealth Web3 The Free VC Fund is designed to elevate the spirit of Web3 at a time when the retail crypto community is mobilizing against unfair launch practices. By providing access at the same stage as VCs and other privileged groups, Common Wealth aims to level the playing field in the sector.  Leveraging its strong backing by key opinion leaders with a collective social reach of over 12 million, Common Wealth is set to shock the industry with a host of world firsts - the first-ever totally free, no management fees, always liquid, and fully on-chain Venture Fund. The Free VC Fund comprises an estimated $2.4 million worth of allocations across 15 of the most promising unlaunched projects in Web3 (including Common Wealth!), to be made available to early supporters through an interactive and engaging gamification system. The starring projects, referred by the , and that will make up the Free Fund are as follows; and All Street Oracles Analog, Asymmetry, BLOCKLORDS, Chirp, Cookie3, Diamond Swap, DYOR Exchange, FairSide, Mangata Finance, Mavryk, Nibiru, Nyan Heroes, OP Games, Rabbet. The Free Fund will be fully airdropped as “Slices” (fund NFTs) to the winners of a 3-week campaign, starting in around 2 weeks. Each Free Fund Slice will appear in their wallets as completely non-fungible and immutable proof of ownership, which can be split, transferred, or traded at the discretion of the holder. This feature set is another first and further cements the innovation behind this new decentralized infrastructure. The campaign prizes are: The top 10 recipients receive $10,000 slices each. The next 50 recipients receive $5,000 slices each. The next 1,000 recipients receive $1,000 slices each. Runner-ups share ~$1 million in $WLTH tokens. The Common Wealth Genesis 1 & 2 NFT holders and Beta Testers will receive additional rewards, granting them a competitive edge as a thank-you for their pivotal role in the platform’s beta phase. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcMNAd7Irmg&embedable=true Participation is free and open to everyone* to complete specific off-chain and on-chain tasks related to each project in the fund. Progress will be tracked with a Leaderboard, and notably, every verified participant who has completed the minimum tasks will be rewarded. The custom mechanics will see participants complete various missions, organized into 5 Quests across different social channels. Each project features five Quests, one for each major social media platform, with each Quest comprising three or more Missions. Completion of these Missions earns participants XP points, with bonus rewards for finishing all Missions within a Quest. The ultimate incentive is reserved for those who complete all Quests for a project, offering them a significant XP boost. Automated and manual verifications will provide legitimacy and ensure the transparency and accountability central to Web3. The Free VC Fund initiative will begin on Wednesday, February 21st, 2024, and will span three weeks, ending with a verification phase**. A total of 1,060 winners will see the prizes air-dropped to their wallets when the app goes live on zkSync ERA mainnet before 8th April 2024. The winners of the $WLTH airdrop will receive their full airdrop at TGE (week commencing 8th April 2024). Post-launch, the Free Fund will function similarly to all others coming to the Common Wealth app, where a permissionless system will run the investment processes and provide the owners of the slices with their proceeds until the fund is fully vested. Throughout the fund lifecycle, the app will continue to reward education and engagement across the Common Wealth ecosystem. About Common Wealth: Common Wealth is a powerful, all-in-one platform for early-stage Web3 investments — providing an all-access pass for retail investors to take control of their financial future. It aims to disrupt, scale, and optimize the traditional venture capital investment model using Web3 principles and blockchain technology. By opening up access to the 99%, Common Wealth incentivizes better standards of investment and investor education with crowd-sourced wisdom and scalable due diligence. Follow Common Wealth: https://twitter.com/joincommonwlth Website: https://joincommonwealth.xyz/ Telegram: https://t.me/commonwealth_chat Press Contact: hello@common-wealth.io Participation in the Common Wealth promotion requires a registered profile and completion of at least 3 missions per project for leaderboard eligibility. Proof of mission completion may be requested, and all entries are subject to verification by the team. Only the highest XP scores can win, with entrants eligible for a single prize across all tiers. Tier 1 and 2 winners are excluded from the TGE airdrop. In the event of score ties, algorithmic tie-breakers will be applied. Judges' decisions are final. Geographical restrictions may apply. Common Wealth reserves the right to extend the campaign at its discretion. This story was distributed as a release by BTCWire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging  Program. Learn more about the program here: https://business.hackernoon.com/

Common Wealth Announces the Launch of the World's First Free VC Fund

কমন ওয়েলথ বিশ্বের প্রথম ফ্রি ভিসি ফান্ড চালুর ঘোষণা দিয়েছে

Common Wealth gibt die Einführung des weltweit ersten kostenlosen VC-Fonds bekannt

Common Wealth anuncia el lanzamiento del primer fondo de capital riesgo gratuito del mundo

Common Wealth annonce le lancement du premier fonds de capital-risque gratuit au monde

कॉमन वेल्थ ने दुनिया का पहला मुफ्त वीसी फंड लॉन्च करने की घोषणा की

コモン・ウェルス、世界初の無料VCファンドの立ち上げを発表

Common Wealth, 세계 최초의 무료 VC 펀드 출시 발표

Common Wealth anuncia o lançamento do primeiro fundo de capital de risco gratuito do mundo

Common Wealth объявляет о запуске первого в мире бесплатного фонда венчурного капитала

Common Wealth Dünyanın İlk Ücretsiz VC Fonunun Lansmanını Duyurdu

Common Wealth công bố ra mắt Quỹ đầu tư mạo hiểm miễn phí đầu tiên trên thế giới

共同财富宣布推出全球首支免费风险投资基金

FTC v. Amazon Court Filing, retrieved on Sep 26, 2023, is part of . You can jump to any part in this filing . This is part 75 of 80. HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series here 1. Unfair methods of competition and unfair acts or practices under PUTPCPL 530. Plaintiff Commonwealth of Pennsylvania repeats and re-alleges and incorporates by reference each and every paragraph and allegation of the Complaint as if fully set forth 531. Regardless of the nature or quality of Amazon’s aforementioned acts or practices on the competitive process or competition, Amazon’s conduct has been otherwise unfair or unconscionable because they offend public policy as established by statutes, the common law, or otherwise, are immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous, or substantially injurious to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and consumers. 532. Amazon’s unfair conduct has resulted in the Commonwealth and consumers being substantially injured by paying more for products than they otherwise would have in a free and open market. 533. Amazon’s impairment of choice and the competitive process has had the following effects: (1) competition in the online superstore market and the market for online marketplace services has been restrained, suppressed and eliminated throughout Pennsylvania; (2) online superstore market prices and the market for online marketplace services prices have been raised, maintained and stabilized at artificially-high levels throughout Pennsylvania; (3) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and consumers have been deprived of free and open markets; and (4) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and consumers have paid supra-competitive, artificially inflated prices for online superstore products and online marketplace services. 534. Amazon’s impairment of choice and the competitive process have caused the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and consumers to suffer and to continue to suffer loss of money by means of Amazon’s use or employment of unfair methods of competition and/or unfair acts or practices as set forth above. 535. Amazon’s conduct more fully described herein is unlawful pursuant to 73 P.S. § 201-3. 536. The aforesaid methods, acts or practices constitute unfair methods of competition and/or unfair acts or practices within their meaning under Section 2(4) of the PUTPCPL, including, but not limited to, “Engaging in any other fraudulent or deceptive conduct which creates a likelihood of confusion or of misunderstanding” in violation of 73 P.S. § 201-2(4)(xxi). 537. The above-described conduct created the likelihood of confusion and misunderstanding and exploited unfair advantage of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and consumers seeking to exercise a meaningful choice in markets expected to be free of impairment to the competitive process and thus constitutes an unfair method of competition through one or more of the following: (a) Violating Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2, through willfully maintaining its monopoly power over the online superstore market as set forth in the preceding counts; (b) Violating Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2, through willfully maintaining its monopoly power over the market for online marketplace services as set forth in the preceding counts; (c) Violating Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C § 45(a); (d) Violating Pennsylvania antitrust common law through willfully maintaining its monopoly power over the online superstore market; (e) Violating Pennsylvania antitrust common law through willfully maintaining its monopoly power over the market for online marketplace services; and/or (f) Engaging in any conduct which causes substantial injury to consumers. 538. The above-described conduct substantially injured consumers and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 539. The Commonwealth seeks entry of a permanent injunction restraining Amazon’s unlawful conduct and mandating corrective measures pursuant to 73 P. S. § 201-4. 540. The Commonwealth also requests that the Court direct Amazon to restore to the Commonwealth on behalf of all victims the ill-gotten gains acquired from their inflated pricing during the period of time Amazon’s unlawful conduct took place, pursuant to 73 P. S. § 201-4.1. Continue Reading . Here About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings. This court case 2:23-cv-01495 retrieved on October 2, 2023, from is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. ftc.gov

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Tags Amazon "Immoral, Oppressive and Unscrupulous" 

কমনওয়েলথ অফ পেনসিলভানিয়া ট্যাগ অ্যামাজন "অনৈতিক, নিপীড়ক এবং নীতিহীন"

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania bezeichnet Amazon als „unmoralisch, unterdrückend und skrupellos“

La Commonwealth de Pensilvania etiqueta a Amazon como "inmoral, opresiva y sin escrúpulos"

Le Commonwealth de Pennsylvanie qualifie Amazon de « immoral, oppressif et sans scrupules »

पेंसिल्वेनिया के राष्ट्रमंडल ने अमेज़ॅन को टैग किया "अनैतिक, दमनकारी और बेईमान"

ペンシルベニア州はアマゾンを「不道徳、抑圧的、不謹慎」とタグ付け

펜실베니아 연방은 아마존에 "부도덕하고 억압적이며 파렴치한" 태그를 붙였습니다.

Comunidade da Pensilvânia classifica a Amazon como “imoral, opressiva e sem escrúpulos”

Содружество Пенсильвании назвало Amazon «аморальным, репрессивным и беспринципным»

Pensilvanya Topluluğu Amazon'u "Ahlaksız, Baskıcı ve Vicdansız" Olarak Etiketledi

Khối thịnh vượng chung Pennsylvania gắn thẻ Amazon là "vô đạo đức, áp bức và vô đạo đức"

宾夕法尼亚州给亚马逊贴上“不道德、压迫性和不择手段”的标签

After two decades of political and economic turmoil, CIS has emerged as a dynamic and ambitious region – and a crypto industry hotspot. Low taxes, affordable workforce, relaxed state regulations, cheap energy – all this creates a perfect environment for blockchain businesses. In this post, we'll look at ten entrepreneurs shaping the new, crypto-friendly image of the region 1) Nikolay Udianskyi Nikolay Udianskyi is a visionary Ukrainian blockchain entrepreneur who founded Eastern Europe's largest crypto exchange, , named the best exchange at Asian Blockchain Life in 2019. Coinsbit also made it onto the list of Asia's Top 10 blockchain companies and became the first exchange to integrate a network of 200,000 POS terminals across the globe. Mr. Udianskyi also leads the way in launching exchanges: Thanks to his assistance, five of the top 50 exchanges have seen the light of day. Mr. Udianskyi's competencies stretch far beyond exchanges, however. He’s also working on various other projects, including ASSUR, the world's first insurance company focusing on crypto exchanges; Ukraine's first blockchain investment fund; and an upcoming residential complex for IT developers near Kharkiv. Coinsbit.io 2) Sergei Khitrov Founder of , the largest listing company that helped add more than 500 projects to crypto exchanges, founder of one of the largest Blockchain Life world blockchain and cryptocurrency forum, founder of the Jets Capital investment fund and IDEO crypto and digital associations. He was repeatedly recognized as one of the most promising young entrepreneurs in Russia and CIS. Listing.help 3) Roman Nekrasov Roman Nekrasov is the founder of - a multidisciplinary international holding company specializing in high-tech telecommunications products and decentralized services. The foundation currently focuses on the development of a decentralized public key infrastructure (DPKI), designed to increase the level of privacy and reliability of network interactions. ENCRY Foundation In addition to ENCRY, Nekrasov manages the Russian-language version of NewsBTC - a popular blockchain and cryptocurrency news resource - as well as a number of other projects in related fields. Nekrasov sees his mission in changing the society's current view on network interaction, increasing the level of confidentiality of digital communication, and developing distributed and decentralized services. 4) Vasily Kuznetsov is one of the persons who created the blockchain community in Russia. In the year of 2017 he hosted over 40 weekly meetups with his newly formed company IBCG (International Blockchain Consulting Group). Almost 5000 people were inspired by the new trendy topic and quickly started forming teams for ICOs and other types of blockchain organizations. Vasily was also an adviser for some of the crypto startups, traveling around the globe and meeting new partners. He is currently deeply involved with investments strategies and would be happy to cooperate with anyone willing to make the world a better place. Vasily Kuznetsov 5) Dmitry Zuev Dmitry Zuev is the co-founder and CBDO of (NGE). The project that aims to provide electric energy for miners and data processing centers at an unprecedented price of $0.02 per kWh, hedged for the next 25 years. In the past, Dmitry held executive positions in leading banks and has a vast expertise in creating and promoting banking and investment products. Dmitry also heads the Committee for Public Contracts and Digital Economy in the Irkutsk branch of the SME-centered NGO Opora Rossii. He’s been involved in the blockchain industry since 2017. Natural Gas Energy 6) Gee (Evgheny) Turvinenko Gee (Evgheny) Turvinenko worked with startups and VC back in 2014. He came to Blockchain after 3 years of structuring deals for Venture capital. He started with IR and fundraising for projects. In 2017 he created the Agency ICOboost, which helped projects to raise funds and provide marketing services. Acts as an Advisor and consultant for dozens of ICO projects. Being known, including in the development environment (as product owner), in mid-2018 he with two partners   focused on creating his own Blockchain Protocol for Enterpise (Kratos Protocol). In 2019, focuses on Asian markets (Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong), exploring combinations of traditional investments and Blockchain investments. Joined to as a Head of Strategy and Sales, the firsts p2p lending platform for Gaming Assets. Constantly present in Asia and helps projects to find investments, partners and advisers. Truly believes that blockchain could change our future to the best. FinwhaleX 7) David Lolaev Founder of business development company lab. SalAd David has impeccable sales and business development skills, and his team provides more than 300 crypto startups with excellent services from A to Z. With his experience, David has fostered a lot of startups as a growth hacker and marketing advisor. He has created his own strategy and tactics for sales and fundraising tasks to help young companies around the world become successful. He maintains strong partnerships with top exchanges and international funds. 8) Nikita Brudnov Nikita Brudnov is a well-known serial entrepreneur and the CEO at . In the past, he worked as Head of Relations at ICO Brothers. With 6 years in sales management, 4 years in marketing, and 3 years as an active cryptocurrency expert, he personally worked with over 120 projects and exchanges in the blockchain space. Nikita has helped launch over 10 IEOs and facilitated exchange listing for dozens of projects. Easy Listing Nikita is currently focused on fundraising, top exchange listing, and marketing & PR services for crypto exchanges. 9) Alexey Andryunin Alexey Andryunin is the founder of GOTBIT Market Solutions and an advisor at Kuverit. A Moscow State University graduate with a strong math background, Alexey has 5 years of experience in algo trading.  He is a market making provider for 50+ tokens and has developed a liquidity transfer system for new exchanges. Alexey designed the only market-making system able to create a real market for tokens traded on decentralized exchanges. He also created a new method of project financing, based on early token listings and additional funding through market-making. In just 3 months, Alexey's clients successfully raised $3+ mln using this system. Alexey's current projects include a strategy of financing tokens through market-making and an innovative B2B crypto financial platform. 10) Dmitriy Budorin Since 2017 Dmitriy Budorin is founder and CEO of , leading Eastern European blockchain cybersecurity consulting company with more than 200 clients all over the world. Hacken is also a trusted brand in traditional enterprise cybersecurity. Among clients there are such huge companies like Vechain, Fenbushi Capital and AirAsia etc. Hacken professional achievements are highly regarded by industry leaders like CZ, CEO of Binance. Moreover, Hacken is the only one cybersecurity partner of Coinmarketcap. This year Hacken became a partner of Cream and Vechain and prepares a unique cybersecurity lifetime app HackenAI Hacken

10 Blockchain Entrepreneurs from CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) to Follow

Digital Dollars, Digital Yuan, Digital Chaos? The CBDC Arms Race Explained

Governments around the world are escalating demands for encryption backdoors, claiming they are required for national security needs. Experts warn that these policies create cybersecurity risks for billions of people. Recently, British officials secretly ordered Apple to create a backdoor into their Advanced Data Protection (ADP) service. Apple responded to this by disabling ADP in the UK – choosing to roll back the optional protection for their UK-based customers, to safeguard the cybersecurity of millions of Apple users around the world. The action from the UK Government, enabled by their Investigatory Powers Act, sets a dangerous precedent. If enforced, this may normalize state-mandated vulnerabilities that hackers, hostile nations and authoritarian regimes could exploit. The encrypted messaging app Signal is facing similar demands from some branches of Swedish Government. If enforced, Signal claims they will leave Sweden. The Domino Effect of Backdoor Demands Apple’s decision to withdraw encrypted cloud storage in the UK—rather than comply—highlights the dilemma facing tech companies. Similar laws in Australia and the US, such as the Assistance and Access Act and FISA Section 702, already empower governments to compel decryption, potentially creating backdoor vulnerabilities. Joseph Lorenzo Hall of the Internet Society predicts a “Commonwealth effect,” where one nation’s backdoor demand triggers copycat policies globally. Cybersecurity experts universally condemn backdoors as systemic risks. As the NSA’s 2006 encryption sabotage showed, intentional weaknesses inevitably leak, enabling mass surveillance and cybercrime. The FBI and CISA now urge Americans to adopt end-to-end encryption for protection—even as the US pressures companies for access. There is a clear lack of unity between government agencies and departments on this issue, not to mention other recent contentions between the FBI and Elon’s newly minted Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Will Backdoors Ruin Encryption? Whether or not backdoors become pervasive in encryption is at this point, unclear – but we are clearly at a critical juncture, with multiple spats between public and private entities occurring globally. Governments may abandon backdoor mandates, and instead focus on pushing fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), which enables data processing and analysis without decrypting data. This may be the best case scenario based on current technology. Protecting your Privacy in an Era of Surveillance and Uncertain Encryption Until FHE sees widespread adoption (if that day ever comes), individuals and organizations should combine robust encryption measures whenever possible, while maintaining a strict data hygiene process. Data hygiene can be improved for all people and businesses by adopting a strategy to reduce the size of your digital footprint through careful management. Old social media posts, comments, likes and private messages regularly contain sensitive information that could be exposed in data breaches or misused by third parties. Without a well-managed digital footprint, you are exposed to targeted scams, hackers, and mass surveillance. This is where tools like redact.dev offer a practical safeguard. Redact is a toolkit that gives you the ability to clean up, and automatically manage your digital footprint across 30+ platforms – from Twitter / X Likes and Facebook Activity, to your Slack DMs. Get Redact – free for our most popular services, and reduce attack surfaces for hackers and social engineering vulnerabilities. Governments around the world are escalating demands for encryption backdoors, claiming they are required for national security needs. Experts warn that these policies create cybersecurity risks for billions of people. Governments around the world are escalating demands for encryption backdoors, claiming they are required for national security needs. Experts warn that these policies create cybersecurity risks for billions of people. Recently, British officials secretly ordered Apple to create a backdoor into their Advanced Data Protection (ADP) service. Apple responded to this by disabling ADP in the UK – choosing to roll back the optional protection for their UK-based customers, to safeguard the cybersecurity of millions of Apple users around the world. into their Advanced Data Protection (ADP) service. the cybersecurity of millions of Apple users around the world. The action from the UK Government, enabled by their Investigatory Powers Act, sets a dangerous precedent. If enforced, this may normalize state-mandated vulnerabilities that hackers, hostile nations and authoritarian regimes could exploit. hackers, hostile nations and authoritarian regimes could exploit. The encrypted messaging app Signal is facing similar demands from some branches of Swedish Government . If enforced, Signal claims they will leave Sweden. demands from some branches of Swedish Government The Domino Effect of Backdoor Demands The Domino Effect of Backdoor Demands Apple’s decision to withdraw encrypted cloud storage in the UK—rather than comply—highlights the dilemma facing tech companies. Similar laws in Australia and the US, such as the Assistance and Access Act and FISA Section 702 , already empower governments to compel decryption, potentially creating backdoor vulnerabilities. the Assistance and Access Act FISA Section 702 Joseph Lorenzo Hall of the Internet Society predicts a “Commonwealth effect,” where one nation’s backdoor demand triggers copycat policies globally. predicts a “Commonwealth effect,” Cybersecurity experts universally condemn backdoors as systemic risks . As the NSA’s 2006 encryption sabotage showed, intentional weaknesses inevitably leak, enabling mass surveillance and cybercrime. universally condemn backdoors as systemic risks NSA’s 2006 encryption sabotage The FBI and CISA now urge Americans to adopt end-to-end encryption for protection—even as the US pressures companies for access. There is a clear lack of unity between government agencies and departments on this issue, not to mention other recent contentions between the FBI and Elon’s newly minted Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). adopt end-to-end encryption FBI and Elon’s newly minted Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Will Backdoors Ruin Encryption? Will Backdoors Ruin Encryption? Whether or not backdoors become pervasive in encryption is at this point, unclear – but we are clearly at a critical juncture, with multiple spats between public and private entities occurring globally. Governments may abandon backdoor mandates, and instead focus on pushing fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), which enables data processing and analysis without decrypting data. This may be the best case scenario based on current technology. fully homomorphic encryption Protecting your Privacy in an Era of Surveillance and Uncertain Encryption Protecting your Privacy in an Era of Surveillance and Uncertain Encryption Until FHE sees widespread adoption (if that day ever comes), individuals and organizations should combine robust encryption measures whenever possible, while maintaining a strict data hygiene process. Data hygiene can be improved for all people and businesses by adopting a strategy to reduce the size of your digital footprint through careful management. Old social media posts, comments, likes and private messages regularly contain sensitive information that could be exposed in data breaches or misused by third parties. Without a well-managed digital footprint, you are exposed to targeted scams, hackers, and mass surveillance. This is where tools like redact.dev offer a practical safeguard. Redact is a toolkit that gives you the ability to clean up, and automatically manage your digital footprint across 30+ platforms – from Twitter / X Likes and Facebook Activity , to your Slack DMs . Get Redact – free for our most popular services, and reduce attack surfaces for hackers and social engineering vulnerabilities. redact.dev Twitter / X Likes Facebook Activity Slack DMs

Encryption Wars: Governments Want a Backdoor, but Hackers Are Watching

Cifrado ukan ch’axwawinakapa: Gobiernonakax mä qhipa punku munapxi, ukampis Hackers ukanakax uñch’ukipxi

Şifrələmə müharibələri: Hökumətlər arxa qapı istəyir, lakin hakerlər izləyir

Enkripcijski ratovi: Vlade žele backdoor, ali hakeri gledaju

Verschlüsselungskriege: Regierungen wollen eine Hintertür, aber Hacker beobachten

Guerras de cifrado: los gobiernos quieren una puerta trasera, pero los piratas informáticos están vigilando

暗号化戦争: 政府はバックドアを望んでいるが、ハッカーは監視している

Шифрлөө согуштары: Өкмөттөр арткы эшикти каалайт, бирок хакерлер карап турушат

Perang Penyulitan: Kerajaan Mahu Pintu Belakang, tetapi Penggodam Memerhati

Війни шифрування: уряди хочуть бекдор, але хакери спостерігають

خفیہ کاری کی جنگیں: حکومتیں بیک ڈور چاہتی ہیں، لیکن ہیکرز دیکھ رہے ہیں۔

Iimfazwe ezifihliweyo: oorhulumente bafuna i-backdoor, kodwa iiHackers zibukele

Izimpi Zokubethela: Ohulumeni Bafuna I-Backdoor, kepha Abaduni Babukele

The $1.4 billion hack of the Bybit exchange is a natural thunderclap. First, the amount of stolen cryptocurrency is staggering in scope. Secondly, the security systems of large CEX platforms are considered to be quite reliable and elaborate, but it seems that this is not the case. Entire companies (Arkham) and individual experts (ZachXBT) are looking for signs of outside influence and the path of funds to find out who the funds will lead to. In the meantime, anonymous security expert Dexaran, author of ERC-223 and head of Ethereum Commonwealth, has looked deeper into the attack itself and revealed that the defense mechanism wasn't really that robust, and that someone inside Bybit could conceivably be involved in the hack. Multisig has proven to be unreliable. The vast majority of exchanges use multisig wallets to store assets. In fact, it is a special smart contract that can only be acted upon if the persons involved in the management approve the proposed action with their signatures. Such smart contracts can be updatable, i.e. have a bundle of a proxy contract that stores data and an implementation contract - the logic to be executed. Dexaran in one of his posts gives the address of the proxy contract of the attacked Bybit cold wallet using Gnosis Safe as the implementation contract, rightly noting that it is a rather complex contract of 1080 lines. It may well be that the Bybit team never utilized the full functionality of Gnosis Safe. Most likely, the choice of a smart multi-signature contract was influenced by the widespread adoption of Gnosis Safe. In the meantime, complexity often leads to redundancy and misunderstanding of code behavior in complex situations, one can recall the incorrect user interaction with Gnosis Safe and the loss of $25 million. The Achilles' heel of the multisig used turned out to be signatures, or rather, how and with what help they are generated. As Dexaran notes, signatures are very complex and unreadable by humans, which means that most likely software is used to generate them, and the process itself is the same for all participants, the researcher suggests. That's why other members of the Bybit team didn't suspect anything, because everything looked as usual, and they couldn't read the substitution of Bybit's hot wallet for the hacker's wallet because of the complexity of the signature provided by the hacker. There is no reason not to trust Dexaran's expertise. He has extensive experience auditing smart contracts since the Ethereum split. He audited the multisig wallet for Ethereum Classic, developed the ERC-223 standard and the smart contract communication model to solve the ERC-20 problem. Why would a hacker be inside Bybit? Sure, the Gnosis Safe contract and the proxy contract are verified in the Etherscan block browser, anyone can read the code, the hacker could just be a smart guy. However, the fact that he clearly knows how signatures are generated is either a rare coincidence and a lucky break for the hacker, or he simply knows the inner workings of Bybit's security system from his direct job duties or from an informant. In addition, the hacker didn't just walk by, he deployed two copies of the target contract for practice the day before. Hacker trails A researcher under the nickname ZachXBT traced the flow of funds to an address that accumulated funds from the Phemex hack. This fact is taken as proof of Lazarus Group involvement in the Bybit hack. Considering that a hacker or group of hackers was crushing the funds and withdrawing them through various bridges and mixers, the researcher has done a Herculean task. \In turn, Dexaran draws attention to the chain of addresses, through which the hacker's addresses were replenished to pay for gas for calls to test contracts and send a transaction with a signature to withdraw funds from the exchange's cold wallet. It turns out the hacker funded his addresses through the Binance exchange. Binance is fully compliant with KYC/AML policies and is quite willing to work with various law enforcement agencies. Of course, hackers use the so-called “money mule”, but it's still a clue when an exchange cooperates with law enforcement. Community reaction. Call for the abolition of decentralization. As soon as it became known that the exchange had been hacked and an astronomical amount of ETH had been withdrawn, the market experienced selling pressure. Traders obviously rushed to hedge their bets believing that hackers would cash out the stolen money. CoinMarketCap After the opening of withdrawals from the exchange, users also rushed to withdraw their funds, resulting in an outflow of $5.3 billion (DeFi Llama). Various companies have gotten involved in tagging stolen funds and limiting the ability for hackers to use different platforms to mix and transfer funds between blockchains. Tether - the issuer of USDt - block hackers' funds (Paolo Ardoino). However, not everyone is moving in unison. Cryptomixer eXch has refused to cooperate with the exchange. “In light of these circumstances, we would like an explanation as to why we should partner with an organization that has actively defamed our reputation,” eXch wrote in a response posted on the Bitcointalk forum. Amazingly, there are people calling for a rollback of the Ethereum blockchain to recover Bybit funds, one of them Jan3 CEO Samson Mow. These calls sound a bit strange, when ordinary users who lose their funds are accused of negligence. It's not uncommon for users to mistakenly send funds to the exchange from the wrong EVM network, and all the exchange needs to do is use a public node to send the user's funds back, but in 99.9% of cases they refuse. Plus Bybit has assured that it has enough reserves to cover all losses. These people unknowingly call for burying all the efforts made by the blockchain industry by completely abolishing decentralization, thus reducing the very value of public blockchain technology to 0. Fortunately, the developers of Ethereum themselves are against such a move, and have more than justified their position. for example, kernel developer Tim Beiko. And they have enough supporters on this issue advocating decentralization and cryptopunk philosophy, such as Justin Bons. Bybit itself launched a bounty program, thus announcing a hunt for hackers involved in the hack. Conclusion The community is used to periodic hacks of DeFi protocols. On these platforms developers often neglect testing procedures and audits, choose modules whose code and logic they don't fully know. All in favor of development speed and fear of missing the wave. That's why CEX hack, especially a large one, is always a high-profile event that leaves a lasting impression on the whole industry. Developers at all levels should not forget that the race of defense mechanisms and hacking tools is non-stop and should be on guard. The $1.4 billion hack of the Bybit exchange is a natural thunderclap. First, the amount of stolen cryptocurrency is staggering in scope. Secondly, the security systems of large CEX platforms are considered to be quite reliable and elaborate, but it seems that this is not the case. Entire companies ( Arkham ) and individual experts ( ZachXBT ) are looking for signs of outside influence and the path of funds to find out who the funds will lead to. In the meantime, anonymous security expert Dexaran , author of ERC-223 and head of Ethereum Commonwealth , has looked deeper into the attack itself and revealed that the defense mechanism wasn't really that robust, and that someone inside Bybit could conceivably be involved in the hack. Arkham Arkham ZachXBT ZachXBT Dexaran Dexaran ERC-223 ERC-223 Ethereum Commonwealth Ethereum Commonwealth revealed revealed Multisig has proven to be unreliable. The vast majority of exchanges use multisig wallets to store assets. In fact, it is a special smart contract that can only be acted upon if the persons involved in the management approve the proposed action with their signatures. Such smart contracts can be updatable , i.e. have a bundle of a proxy contract that stores data and an implementation contract - the logic to be executed. multisig multisig updatable updatable Dexaran in one of his posts gives the address of the proxy contract of the attacked Bybit cold wallet using Gnosis Safe as the implementation contract, rightly noting that it is a rather complex contract of 1080 lines. It may well be that the Bybit team never utilized the full functionality of Gnosis Safe. Most likely, the choice of a smart multi-signature contract was influenced by the widespread adoption of Gnosis Safe. In the meantime, complexity often leads to redundancy and misunderstanding of code behavior in complex situations, one can recall the incorrect user interaction with Gnosis Safe and the loss of $25 million. proxy contract proxy contract interaction interaction The Achilles' heel of the multisig used turned out to be signatures, or rather, how and with what help they are generated. As Dexaran notes , signatures are very complex and unreadable by humans, which means that most likely software is used to generate them, and the process itself is the same for all participants, the researcher suggests. notes notes That's why other members of the Bybit team didn't suspect anything, because everything looked as usual , and they couldn't read the substitution of Bybit's hot wallet for the hacker's wallet because of the complexity of the signature provided by the hacker. as usual as usual There is no reason not to trust Dexaran's expertise. He has extensive experience auditing smart contracts since the Ethereum split. He audited the multisig wallet for Ethereum Classic, developed the ERC-223 standard and the smart contract communication model to solve the ERC-20 problem . audited audited ERC-20 problem ERC-20 problem Why would a hacker be inside Bybit? Sure, the Gnosis Safe contract and the proxy contract are verified in the Etherscan block browser, anyone can read the code, the hacker could just be a smart guy. However, the fact that he clearly knows how signatures are generated is either a rare coincidence and a lucky break for the hacker, or he simply knows the inner workings of Bybit's security system from his direct job duties or from an informant. In addition, the hacker didn't just walk by, he deployed two copies of the target contract for practice the day before. deployed deployed Hacker trails A researcher under the nickname ZachXBT traced the flow of funds to an address that accumulated funds from the Phemex hack . This fact is taken as proof of Lazarus Group involvement in the Bybit hack. Considering that a hacker or group of hackers was crushing the funds and withdrawing them through various bridges and mixers, the researcher has done a Herculean task. traced traced Phemex hack Phemex hack Lazarus Group Lazarus Group \In turn, Dexaran draws attention to the chain of addresses, through which the hacker's addresses were replenished to pay for gas for calls to test contracts and send a transaction with a signature to withdraw funds from the exchange's cold wallet. It turns out the hacker funded his addresses through the Binance exchange. Binance is fully compliant with KYC/AML policies and is quite willing to work with various law enforcement agencies. Of course, hackers use the so-called “money mule”, but it's still a clue when an exchange cooperates with law enforcement. draws draws Community reaction. Call for the abolition of decentralization. As soon as it became known that the exchange had been hacked and an astronomical amount of ETH had been withdrawn, the market experienced selling pressure. Traders obviously rushed to hedge their bets believing that hackers would cash out the stolen money. CoinMarketCap CoinMarketCap CoinMarketCap After the opening of withdrawals from the exchange, users also rushed to withdraw their funds, resulting in an outflow of $5.3 billion ( DeFi Llama ). DeFi Llama DeFi Llama Various companies have gotten involved in tagging stolen funds and limiting the ability for hackers to use different platforms to mix and transfer funds between blockchains. Tether - the issuer of USDt - block hackers' funds ( Paolo Ardoino ). involved involved Paolo Ardoino Paolo Ardoino However, not everyone is moving in unison. Cryptomixer eXch has refused to cooperate with the exchange. “In light of these circumstances, we would like an explanation as to why we should partner with an organization that has actively defamed our reputation,” eXch wrote in a response posted on the Bitcointalk forum. “In light of these circumstances, we would like an explanation as to why we should partner with an organization that has actively defamed our reputation,” eXch wrote in a response posted on the Bitcointalk forum. Bitcointalk Amazingly, there are people calling for a rollback of the Ethereum blockchain to recover Bybit funds, one of them Jan3 CEO Samson Mow. Jan3 CEO Samson Mow . Jan3 CEO Samson Mow These calls sound a bit strange, when ordinary users who lose their funds are accused of negligence. It's not uncommon for users to mistakenly send funds to the exchange from the wrong EVM network, and all the exchange needs to do is use a public node to send the user's funds back, but in 99.9% of cases they refuse. Plus Bybit has assured that it has enough reserves to cover all losses. These people unknowingly call for burying all the efforts made by the blockchain industry by completely abolishing decentralization, thus reducing the very value of public blockchain technology to 0. Fortunately, the developers of Ethereum themselves are against such a move, and have more than justified their position. for example, kernel developer Tim Beiko. Tim Beiko . Tim Beiko And they have enough supporters on this issue advocating decentralization and cryptopunk philosophy, such as Justin Bons. Justin Bons . Justin Bons Bybit itself launched a bounty program, thus announcing a hunt for hackers involved in the hack. launched launched Conclusion The community is used to periodic hacks of DeFi protocols. On these platforms developers often neglect testing procedures and audits, choose modules whose code and logic they don't fully know. All in favor of development speed and fear of missing the wave. That's why CEX hack, especially a large one, is always a high-profile event that leaves a lasting impression on the whole industry. Developers at all levels should not forget that the race of defense mechanisms and hacking tools is non-stop and should be on guard.

Security Expert Says the Bybit Hack May Have Involved an Insider

Sekuriteitskenner sê die Bybit Hack het moontlik 'n insider betrek

يقول خبير أمني إن اختراق Bybit ربما يكون متورطًا فيه شخص من الداخل

Эксперт па бяспецы кажа, што ва ўзломе Bybit мог быць задзейнічаны інсайдэр

Un experto en seguridad afirma que el hackeo de Bybit podría haber involucrado a alguien con información privilegiada

Ekspè Sekirite di Bybit Hack a ka enplike yon Inisye

Pakar Keamanan Mengatakan Peretasan Bybit Mungkin Melibatkan Orang Dalam

セキュリティ専門家、バイビットのハッキングには内部関係者が関与していた可能性があると主張

Nilaza ny manam-pahaizana momba ny fiarovana fa mety ho tafiditra ao anatin'ny atiny ny Hack Bybit

Pakar Keselamatan Berkata Hack Bybit Mungkin Melibatkan Orang Dalam

ආරක්ෂක විශේෂඥයෙක් පවසන්නේ බයිබිට් හැක් කිරීම අභ්‍යන්තරිකයෙකු සම්බන්ධ වී ඇති බවයි.

Nyanzvi Yekuchengetedza Inoti iyo Bybit Hack Inogona kunge Iine Mukati

பைபிட் ஹேக்கில் ஒரு உள் நபர் ஈடுபட்டிருக்கலாம் என்று பாதுகாப்பு நிபுணர் கூறுகிறார்.

15 Amazing Things You Did Not Know You Could Do With Simple JavaScript 🤯

Historically, people with disabilities have faced significant barriers to using their right to vote. In the digital age, online voter registration platforms must provide users with high-level accessibility access. High accessibility standards are not optional — they are vital to making democracy work for everyone. However, accessibility barriers could create difficulties for people with disabilities, from registering to vote independently and efficiently to preventing them from casting their votes. A recent report from the Rutgers Program for Disability Research estimated that about 40 million people with disabilities were eligible to vote in 2024. So, the absence of their voting could result in different election outcomes. A recent report, "The State of Web Accessibility for U.S. Voters with Disabilities," by QAwerk, a software testing company, reveals the accessibility level of 43 U.S. online voter registration websites. It shows that 65% of them have medium or low accessibility levels, presenting significant barriers for voters with disabilities. Here are the most common accessibility issues identified by QAwerk's report for over half of the U.S. online voter registration websites. 1. HTML Errors The most prevalent issue identified in the study was the presence of errors in HTML code, which were found for 98% of online voter registration sites. Only one website out of the 43 we tested had no errors in its HTML code. It was Utah. Why is it important? Valid HTML markup makes it accessible for assistive technologies, such as screen readers, to interpret and understand the content of a web page. Screen readers are essential for blind and visually impaired users, allowing them to navigate websites through auditory feedback. For example, incorrect attributes can cause screen readers to misinterpret interactive components, like buttons, leading to user confusion. Best practices to avoid HTML code errors include regularly validating HTML using tools like the W3C Markup Validation Service, incorporating linters into your development environment, and implementing automated testing for validation, accessibility, and performance. 2. Missing or Poorly Labeled Input Fields Proper labeling of input fields is another critical aspect of web accessibility, especially for individuals using assistive technologies like screen readers. According to the report, 33 out of 43 websites (77%) have inadequately labeled input fields, making it difficult for users to understand and complete forms. Only 10 websites out of the 43 we tested had no issues labeling input fields. These were Illinois, Kansas, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and the District of Columbia. For instance, without labels, screen readers might not announce the purpose of form fields correctly, leaving users confused. Best Practices include clearly labeling all form fields with descriptive language and associating them with their elements using HTML tags while providing examples of correct input and identifying mandatory fields with text labels. 3. Low Contrast Between Text and Background Color contrast between text and background is crucial for users with low vision or color blindness. QAwerk's data shows that 23 out of 43 websites (53%) failed to provide sufficient contrast, making it difficult for users to read important information. WCAG 2.2. guidelines suggest the visual presentation of text and text images has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1; large-scale text and images of large-scale text have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1. Improving color contrast is a relatively simple yet impactful fix that developers can implement to significantly enhance the readability of their websites for all users. It can be fixed by following WCAG contrast guidelines, using tools like WebAIM’s Contrast Checker, and ensuring sufficient contrast between text and backgrounds, including when using images. 4. Missing Link Purpose The "Missing Link Purpose" error is a critical accessibility issue that arises when the purpose of a hyperlink is not clear from its context or the link text itself. When link text is vague or generic (e.g., "click here"), screen reader users may not understand where the link will take them or what action it will perform. 53% of online voter registration sites lack a link description, which can confuse users who rely on screen readers as the destination of the link or action required is not stated. Take the Massachusetts state election site, for example. Here, the text “Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts” contains a link, but there’s no description of its destination or action required. Check the purpose of each link is clear from the text or its context, use descriptive link text that makes sense independently, and add a title property for additional clarity when needed. 5. Lack of Clear Error Messages When users make mistakes while filling out online forms, it's essential that error messages are clear, concise, and easy to understand. Unfortunately, 44% of voter registration sites tested did not provide clear error messages, which can lead to user frustration and prevent them from successfully completing their registration. The Delaware state election site contains this accessibility issue. Here, the user’s error isn’t clearly marked or described. Only the word “Required” indicates that the field is mandatory. The borders of the field are not highlighted in red. Website administrators should check that forms have real-time validation and provide clear guidance when errors happen. Final Thoughts Creating a digital environment that guarantees equal access to the voting process for everyone is not only a technical challenge; it’s a fundamental commitment to inclusivity and democracy. Accessibility should be our ongoing effort. Websites must be retested regularly, especially as they get updated and new content is added. Historically, people with disabilities have faced significant barriers to using their right to vote. In the digital age, online voter registration platforms must provide users with high-level accessibility access. High accessibility standards are not optional — they are vital to making democracy work for everyone. However, accessibility barriers could create difficulties for people with disabilities, from registering to vote independently and efficiently to preventing them from casting their votes. A recent report from the Rutgers Program for Disability Research estimated that about 40 million people with disabilities were eligible to vote in 2024. So, the absence of their voting could result in different election outcomes. 40 million 40 million A recent report, " The State of Web Accessibility for U.S. Voters with Disabilities ," by QAwerk, a software testing company, reveals the accessibility level of 43 U.S. online voter registration websites. It shows that 65% of them have medium or low accessibility levels, presenting significant barriers for voters with disabilities. The State of Web Accessibility for U.S. Voters with Disabilities The State of Web Accessibility for U.S. Voters with Disabilities Here are the most common accessibility issues identified by QAwerk's report for over half of the U.S. online voter registration websites. 1. HTML Errors 1. HTML Errors The most prevalent issue identified in the study was the presence of errors in HTML code, which were found for 98% of online voter registration sites. Only one website out of the 43 we tested had no errors in its HTML code. It was Utah. Why is it important? Valid HTML markup makes it accessible for assistive technologies, such as screen readers, to interpret and understand the content of a web page. Screen readers are essential for blind and visually impaired users, allowing them to navigate websites through auditory feedback. For example, incorrect attributes can cause screen readers to misinterpret interactive components, like buttons, leading to user confusion. Best practices to avoid HTML code errors include regularly validating HTML using tools like the W3C Markup Validation Service, incorporating linters into your development environment, and implementing automated testing for validation, accessibility, and performance. 2. Missing or Poorly Labeled Input Fields 2. Missing or Poorly Labeled Input Fields Proper labeling of input fields is another critical aspect of web accessibility, especially for individuals using assistive technologies like screen readers. According to the report, 33 out of 43 websites (77%) have inadequately labeled input fields, making it difficult for users to understand and complete forms. Only 10 websites out of the 43 we tested had no issues labeling input fields. These were Illinois, Kansas, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and the District of Columbia. For instance, without labels, screen readers might not announce the purpose of form fields correctly, leaving users confused. Best Practices include clearly labeling all form fields with descriptive language and associating them with their elements using HTML tags while providing examples of correct input and identifying mandatory fields with text labels. 3. Low Contrast Between Text and Background 3. Low Contrast Between Text and Background Color contrast between text and background is crucial for users with low vision or color blindness. QAwerk's data shows that 23 out of 43 websites (53%) failed to provide sufficient contrast, making it difficult for users to read important information. WCAG 2.2. guidelines suggest the visual presentation of text and text images has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1; large-scale text and images of large-scale text have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1. Improving color contrast is a relatively simple yet impactful fix that developers can implement to significantly enhance the readability of their websites for all users. WCAG WCAG It can be fixed by following WCAG contrast guidelines, using tools like WebAIM’s Contrast Checker, and ensuring sufficient contrast between text and backgrounds, including when using images. 4. Missing Link Purpose 4. Missing Link Purpose The "Missing Link Purpose" error is a critical accessibility issue that arises when the purpose of a hyperlink is not clear from its context or the link text itself. When link text is vague or generic (e.g., "click here"), screen reader users may not understand where the link will take them or what action it will perform. 53% of online voter registration sites lack a link description, which can confuse users who rely on screen readers as the destination of the link or action required is not stated. Take the Massachusetts state election site, for example. Here, the text “Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts” contains a link, but there’s no description of its destination or action required. Check the purpose of each link is clear from the text or its context, use descriptive link text that makes sense independently, and add a title property for additional clarity when needed. 5. Lack of Clear Error Messages 5. Lack of Clear Error Messages When users make mistakes while filling out online forms, it's essential that error messages are clear, concise, and easy to understand. Unfortunately, 44% of voter registration sites tested did not provide clear error messages, which can lead to user frustration and prevent them from successfully completing their registration. The Delaware state election site contains this accessibility issue. Here, the user’s error isn’t clearly marked or described. Only the word “Required” indicates that the field is mandatory. The borders of the field are not highlighted in red. Website administrators should check that forms have real-time validation and provide clear guidance when errors happen. Final Thoughts Final Thoughts Creating a digital environment that guarantees equal access to the voting process for everyone is not only a technical challenge; it’s a fundamental commitment to inclusivity and democracy. Accessibility should be our ongoing effort. Websites must be retested regularly, especially as they get updated and new content is added.

Top 5 Accessibility Issues in U.S. Voter Registration Sites and Ways to Fix Them

Solving the Paradox of Decentralized Coordination

Countering Mainstream Bias via End-to-End Adaptive Local Learning: Conclusion and References

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