WASHINGTON: North Korean hackers stole around $400 million worth of cryptocurrency through cyberattacks on digital currency outlets last year, blockchain data platform Chainalysis said on Thursday. Pyongyang is under multiple international sanctions over its atomic bomb and ballistic missile developments but analysts say the North has also built up its cyber capabilities with an army of thousands of well-trained hackers who extract finances to fund the state’s weapons programs. In 2021, the hackers launched seven attacks on crypto platforms, extracting assets from “internet-connected ‘hot’ wallets” and moving them to North Korean controlled accounts, according to Chainalysis.
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
BREST: EU foreign ministers on Friday warned Russia of a “robust” response, fearing that a cyberattack against Ukraine could prepare the ground for military action by Moscow against its neighbour. Even before Friday’s assault on key Ukrainian government websites, European ministers had warned that cyberattacks could precede, or accompany, a military incursion that Russia may be planning as it masses 100,000 troops on the Ukraine border. The standoff with Russia “is serious, more serious than anything we’ve seen in recent years”, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told reporters at a meeting of the EU’s top diplomats in the French city…
LONDON: The UK government on Friday apologised to Queen Elizabeth II, after revelations Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s staff broke coronavirus restrictions by partying on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral. “It is deeply regrettable that this took place at a time of national mourning and Number 10 (Downing Street) has apologised to the palace,” Johnson’s spokesman told reporters. The message to the 95-year-old head of state is understood to have been sent through official channels by telephone and not personally sent by Johnson, who is under growing pressure to quit after a slew of similar allegations. He has so far…
UNITED NATIONS: As Pakistan assumed the chair of the Group of 77 on Friday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi urged the international community to help developing countries recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Developing countries cannot recover if their budgets are further constrained by austerity packages, imposed increases in energy prices, and weakening of their currencies. No country must be prevented from serving its people,” he said in his virtual address to the annual meeting. The Group of 77 (G77) is a coalition of 134 developing countries in the United Nations, designed to promote their collective economic interests.…
KABUL: The Taliban on Friday urged Washington to heed a call by the United Nations chief to unlock Afghan funds frozen in the United States, as a humanitarian crisis deepens. US authorities froze billions of dollars in Afghan assets after the Taliban seized power in August following the withdrawal of foreign forces. On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Washington to take the lead and prevent “the nightmare unfolding in Afghanistan” by releasing capital. “The United States must respond positively to the international voice and release Afghan capital,” the Taliban government’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter. Washington has…
China reaffirmed its opposition to unilateral sanctions by the United States against Iran as the Chinese and Iranian foreign ministers announced the launch of a 25-year cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening economic and political ties. In a meeting on Friday in the city of Wuxi, in Jiangsu province, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also backed efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between major powers and Iran. A summary of the meeting between Wang and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was posted on China’s foreign ministry website on Saturday. Wang, who is also State Councillor, said the US bore primary responsibility for…
Just over a year ago, millions of energised young people, women, voters of colour and independents joined forces to send Joe Biden to the White House. But 12 months into his presidency, many describe a coalition in crisis. Leading voices across Biden’s diverse political base openly decry the slow pace of progress on key campaign promises. The frustration was especially pronounced this past week after Biden’s push for voting rights legislation effectively stalled, intensifying concerns in his party that fundamental democratic principles are at risk and reinforcing a broader sense that the president is faltering at a moment of historic…
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday claimed that the government had passed the most controversial bill regarding autonomy of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) with the help of ‘telephone calls’ received by ruling coalition legislators and said the legislation would be reversed one day as it was against the country’s ‘economic sovereignty’. “I want to tell IMF (International Monetary Fund) that I have no doubt that the legislation regarding State Bank will be reversed because no country can surrender its economic sovereignty just for $6 billion,” Mr Abbasi, who is senior vice president of the opposition Pakistan…
LAHORE: A judicial magistrate has summoned singer Meesha Shafi and five others through bailable arrest warrants in a case registered under the cybercrime law by actor-cum-singer Ali Zafar on charges of running a malicious campaign against him on social media. Six people nominated in the case, including Shafi, had filed applications for a one-time exemption from personal appearance in Thursday’s proceedings. A written order issued by judicial magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Virk says: “The reason mentioned by the accused Fareeha Ayub in her application is justifiable, therefore, the same is hereby allowed.” He directed Ms Ayub to appear at the next…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) on Friday declared 16 brands of bottled water unsafe for human consumption after detecting high levels of sodium, arsenic, potassium and microbiological contamination in them. The government through Ministry of Science and Technology has designated the task to the PCRWR to quarterly monitor bottled or mineral water brands and publish the results in the best public interest. For the last quarter from October to December PCRWR collected 181 samples of mineral and bottled water brands from 22 cities. Comparison of test results with the permissible limits of Pakistan Standards and Quality…
