As bitcoin surged through a new record high of more than $17,000 in trading Thursday, Russia now says it will legalize cryptocurrencies less than three weeks after saying it never would. The latest triple backflip might have earned a 9.9, 10.0 and 9.9 score had the country not been banned from the Olympics. The Russian government is ...

Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing Technology Co. may finally be starting its long-rumored international expansion, as a report Thursday claimed the company is about to open up shop in Mexico. Reuters made the claim, quoting two sources familiar with the plans as saying that Didi will enter Mexico sometime in the first quarter of 2018. It would ...

Apple Inc. has patched a serious vulnerability in its HomeKit smart home software framework that could allow malicious actors to hijack and control any device connected using the platform. The “zero-day” or previously undiscovered vulnerability, first reported by 9to5Mac today, allowed unauthorized control of accessories such as smart locks and garage door openers. Described as “difficult to ...

Application security startup Contrast Security Inc. has raised additional funding from Microsoft Ventures and AXA Strategic Ventures as an extension of its previous $30 million Series C round announced in October. Founded in 2014, Contrast Security offers “self-protecting” security software that is designed to protect enterprise software applications from within by enabling enterprise developers to build in security functions through an embeddable ...

Notorious cheating hookup site Ashley Madison is back in the news after it was discovered that the site was exposing private, often sexually explicit member photographs to other members without permission. Discovered by security researchers Bob Diachenko and Matt Svensson, the exposure involves the way Ashley Madison handles member photos that are meant to be viewed privately by ...

Updated: The price of bitcoin keeps on rising, breaking through $14,000 in trading late Wednesday — and then soaring past $16,000 on Thursday. But its status as a currency, crypto or otherwise, has hit a new low as the gaming service Steam stopped accepting bitcoin for payment partly because of those same price fluctuations. Valve Corp.’s popular ...

Bitcoin mining marketplace NiceHash has been hacked as a large sum believed to amount to $68 million in bitcoin was stolen from the site. The news was confirmed by NiceHash after the service went offline claiming to be undergoing maintenance. While not providing much in the way of details, the company did say in a statement ...

Those looking to park some of their bitcoin holdings into long-term investment opportunities for retirement or old age now have two new options of widely divergent usefulness. One appears to be entirely speculative and possibly nothing more than a marketing stunt, while a second option taps into existing U.S. retirement regulations. The flashiest of the ...

The mastermind behind a notorious botnet operating since 2011 has been arrested following an international law enforcement effort to bring an end to his online activities. 33-year-old Sergey Jaretz of Rechitsa, Belarus was arrested by local authorities Dec. 4 on behalf of a joint task-force of European Union law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Federal Bureau ...

Apple Inc. is reported to have acquired Pop Up Archive, an Oakland, California-based startup that offered an online platform of tools for organizing and searching digital spoken words. Neither company has confirmed or denied a deal has taken place, but Nieman Lab was the first to report the news. It said Apple’s response when asked for ...