GM Readers!📪 It's BitDegree Insider, and here we go again.
⭐️Today's selection:
- 🦸♂️Interest Rates Going Up, Bitcoin Chillin'
- 🤖Cryptojacking
- 👌Selected Meme of The Day
- 📰Bite-Sized News
Interest Rates Go UP, Bitcoin Doesn't Care
So, quite a handful of important news. The U.S. Federal Reserve is stirring the pot, pushing the rate up to its highest peak in over 20 whopping years.
So, the federal funds rate got risen by 25 basis points - from 5-5.25% to 5.25-5.5% per annum. As a result, it has risen to the highest level since the beginning of 2001.
Did this move catch anyone off guard? Not exactly. An army of 106 economists, cornered by Reuters for a survey, saw it coming, forecasting this exact increase. In fact, most of them are betting their bottom dollar that this move draws the curtain on the Fed's current tightening cycle of its monetary policy.
Amid all this rate hike ruckus, how did Bitcoin react? With a shrug, really. The titan of the crypto world showed a fairly muted response to the interest rate leap.
At the time of writing, the total market capitalization had grown by more than 1%.
Can't quite recall how interest rates jostle the markets? Don't worry, jog your memory with our feature from May.
Oh, and there's more stuff that we shouldn't skip through!
One U.S. Congressman decided to rock the boat with a debatable opinion.
His take?
Well… We don't really know who Saratoshi Nagamoto really is… But such a take sounds unnecessary and mean. Even Satoshi Nakamoto would agree!
TL;DR: The U.S. Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate by 25 basis points, reaching its highest level since 2001, as expected by economists. However, Bitcoin showed little reaction to the interest rate hike, and the total market capitalization grew by over 1%. A U.S. Congressman also drew some attention to himself by mispronouncing Satoshi Nakamoto's name while trying to call him 'not innovative.'
CRYPTOJACKING
In a startling revelation, SonicWall's recent report uncovers a frightening escalation in the world of cybercrime. In the first half of 2023, the number of cryptojacking attacks grew by 399% and reached a mark of 332 million.
This is more than in 2020, 2021, and 2022 combined.
Cryptojacking might sound like something out of a dystopian sci-fi novel, but it's a grim reality of our digital age.
This sinister cybercrime involves the unlawful hijacking of unsuspecting users' devices, from computers to smartphones and tablets, to mine cryptocurrency in the shadows.
SonicWall's Vice President Spencer Starky told that the main signs of cryptojacking are slowed down device performance and high electricity bills.
He added: "Cryptojackers try to operate unnoticed so that their activity is considered a 'victimless crime' compared to other malicious programs such as ransomware or banking Trojans."
Bob Vankirk, the President and CEO of SonicWall, added another layer to this worrying scenario. He revealed that no one is safe from the clutches of these cybercriminals, who audaciously attack devices belonging to schools, government institutions, and even retail organizations.
But here's the catch: as bone-chilling as these figures are, they might just be the tip of the iceberg. A variety of factors might make these stats an underrepresentation of the actual magnitude of cryptojacking:
- Undetected attacks: Even the most sophisticated cybersecurity systems can miss some attacks, especially if the villains employ cutting-edge tactics that manage to slip under the radar.
- Unreported attacks: Not all cyber attacks see the light of day. Organizations, concerned about potential backlash and reputation damage, often prefer to keep such incidents under wraps.
- A fragmented battleground: These statistics might be missing the mark on some geographical regions or device types, leading to underrepresentation.
- Lack of security measures: Countless devices and networks lack the armor of suitable security measures, leaving them blind and mute to detecting or reporting such attacks.
- The labyrinth called the internet: The vast, convoluted maze that is the internet makes tracking every malicious activity a Herculean task.
Hence, while SonicWall's report provides valuable insights into the trend of cryptojacking, the real scale of the problem is likely to be even larger than the figures suggest.
In this digital battle, it's survival of the most secure. So, throw on your digital cape, be the hero of your own cyberspace, and keep those sneaky cryptojackers at bay.
TL;DR: SonicWall's recent report reveals a terrifying surge in cryptojacking attacks, which grew by 399% in the first half of 2023, reaching 332 million incidents. This cybercrime involves hijacking devices to secretly mine cryptocurrency and affects various organizations, with signs like slowed device performance and high electricity bills, and maybe even more widespread than reported due to undetected and unreported attacks, lack of security measures, and the complexities of the internet.
SELECTED MEME OF THE DAY
