SINGAPORE (CNA) – Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange platform Crypto.com confirmed that it had been hacked, with the accounts of 483 users being affected.
In a blog post, the company said that on January 17, it learned that a “small number of users” had unauthorised withdrawals on their accounts.
These unauthorised withdrawals totalled 4,836.26 Ethereum, 443.93 Bitcoin and approximately USD66,200 in other currencies.
This amounted to about USD31 million (SGD41.7 million), according to the exchange rate on Friday.
The company had detected unauthorised activity on some accounts on Monday, with transactions being approved without two-factor authentication (2FA) provided by users.
“Crypto.com promptly suspended withdrawals for all tokens to initiate an investigation and worked around the clock to address the issue,” it said, adding that no customers experienced a loss of funds.
Unauthorised withdrawals were prevented in the “majority of cases”, with customers being fully reimbursed in all other cases, the company said. Affected accounts were “fully restored”, it said.
Existing 2FA tokens were revoked, while additional “security hardening” measures were added requiring all customers to login and set up their 2FA tokens again, it added.
Withdrawals were down for about 14 hours, said the company.
THE WASHINGTON POST – Chances are good that you would be startled to find a rhinoceros beetle perched over your bed one night. This South American insect is one of the largest in the world. It measures six inches long and two inches wide. That’s almost as big as your hand.
But that’s nothing compared with invertebrates from the Carboniferous Period. About 326 million years ago, before there were dinosaurs, invertebrates could grow to the length of today’s cars (Invertebrates are animals with exoskeletons instead of backbones, such as crabs, spiders and insects).
A fossil discovered in 2018 in England set a new world record for largest land-based invertebrate. It is a species of Arthropleura. Neil Davies, a biologist at the University of Cambridge who studied the fossil, said it’s sort of like a second cousin of today’s millipedes.
It would have measured eight feet long and weighed 110 pounds.
Other Arthropleurafossils have been found before. But none is as big. None is as old. And almost none of them has been complete.
“The evidence is fragments,” Davies said. Scientists have found pieces of leg or an animal’s back, and this latest, largest invertebrate fossil is missing its head and other parts. “One very small Arthropleura specimen from France appears to be complete, but is only (two inches), but that gives the impression of what the shape of the animals were like,”
Davies said.
A fossil found in 2018 in England recently set a world record for the discovery of the largest land-based invertebrate. PHOTO: CHARLOTTE KENCHINTON
The Arthropleura and its behaviours are partly a mystery to scientists. For example, they don’t know what it ate. No heads for any of the large specimens have been discovered.
That means scientists don’t know what kind of teeth they had and whether they were suited to eating plants or meat or both. One Scottish specimen was found near seeds.
But, said Davies, no one has “found any plant material that’s been nibbled” by Arthropleura. “When we find an actual head, we’ll have a better idea of how these things
were living.”
We do know, thanks to this new fossil discovery, that Arthropleura lived in open woodland.
Scientists previously thought that it lived in coal swamps. And we know it must have had plenty of nutritious food to allow it to grow to its massive size.
Davies said it’s unlikely that there were huge swarms of Arthropleura during the Carboniferous Period; there were fewer of all types of animals at that time. But it’s possible that invertebrates were the dominant animal group on land, just as they are the most plentiful group of animals on Earth today.
What caused these animals to disappear? They were probably outcompeted by creatures with backbones, such as reptiles, “which were more able to take advantage of resources on land”, said Davies.
Davies is excited about the discovery. “This was found in a pretty well-populated area, in a quite popular tourist area known for castles and scenery rather than fossils,” he said.
“That tells you to go out and look at things, because you can find unexpected discoveries waiting to be made even in well-trodden places,” he said.
The Public Works Department (JKR) under the Ministry of Development (MoD) conducted emergency repair works on a leaking 100-millimetre water pipe at Simpang 139 of Kampong Subok and completed it by 5.45pm yesterday.
As a result, affected households in high-lying areas in Kampong Subok and the surrounding areas experienced water disruptions and low water pressure.
The department said every step has been taken to address the disruptions and resume regular water supply to the area.
The public is urged to be prudent in the usage of water and contact the Darussalam Line at 123 for the supply of clean water through tankers or complaints regarding water supply issues.
ABUJA, NIGERIA (AP) – The extremist insurgency in northeast Nigeria is a “very, very dangerous (and) very threatening” crisis that needs more than USD1 billion in aid in 2022 to assist those hit by the decade-long conflict, United Nations (UN) Humanitarian Chief Martin Griffiths said.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Griffiths urged the world not to forget the continuing devastation caused by Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province, together blamed for killing tens of thousands of residents and displacing millions. “This is a very different kind of operation and very difficult also to deter… a grave and clear and present danger, obviously, to the people and a priority for the government,” Griffiths said in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown extremist rebels, launched an insurgency in the country’s northeast in 2009, to fight against western education and to establish Syariah law in Nigeria. Their rebellion has spread over the years to the neighbouring West African countries of Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
BRUSSELS (AP) – Veteran defender Thomas Vermaelen is retiring and joining Belgium’s coaching staff as the national team continues to chase a major title.
Belgium’s football federation announced the news on Friday.
The 36-year-old Vermaelen was out of contract after 2.5 years with Japanese club Vissel Kobe, which he joined after leaving Barcelona.
Vermaelen – who also played for Ajax, Arsenal and Roma – will become an assistant to Belgium coach Roberto Martinez.
“His experience during his exceptional career for club and the Red Devils will be a huge asset for our technical staff,” Martinez said.
Vermaelen played 85 matches for Belgium, scoring two goals.
He will help his former teammates prepare for the World Cup in Qatar, where Belgium’s golden generation of players will try to end a run of disappointments at big tournaments.
“I am looking forward to this challenge immensely,” Vermaelen said.
Led by Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku, Belgium made it to the semifinals at the 2018 World Cup.
They were eliminated in the quarterfinals by eventual winners Italy at the European Championship last year. Martinez’s players missed another chance to win a trophy in October when they lost to France in the Nations League semifinals.
THE STAR – Singapore is likely to soon see a “significant wave” of COVID-19 cases as the more infectious Omicron variant spreads through the community, which could strain its healthcare capacity.
To protect seniors and healthcare workers, the authorities will suspend in-person visits to all hospital wards and residential care homes for a period of four weeks, from January 24 to February 20.
It will also expand the national booster programme to cover those aged 12 to 17, and adjust health protocols to allow more groups of patients assessed to be low-risk to self-isolate and recover at home, including children aged five to 11.
Existing safe management measures, such as dining in groups of five, will also be maintained through the Chinese New Year festive period to lower the risk of transmission and reduce the stress on the healthcare system, said Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong on Friday.
Gan noted at a press conference that about 70 per cent of daily cases are now of the Omicron variant, which has become the dominant strain in place of Delta. This proportion could be even higher – close to 90 per cent or more, he added.
So far, most of the Omicron cases have been mild, especially among those who have been fully vaccinated and even more so for those who have received a booster shot, said the minister, who co-chairs the multi-ministry task force handling the pandemic.
AP – Rey Mysterio used to fight with his young son for bragging rights when they played wrestling video games together.
The WWE high-flying superstar has plenty to boast about now – he’s on the cover of the WWE 2K22 video game set for a March 11 release.
“It’s a moment of great pride, not just for me, but for the generations that come after me. All my people, all the Latinos,” Mysterio said.
Even better, Mysterio is a playable character with his son, Dominik. The younger Mysterio wrestled his first WWE match in 2020 and later became tag-team champions with his father.
Mysterio was named the cover star on Thursday as the video game from developer Visual Concepts is back after a two-year hiatus. Mysterio joined Brock Lesnar and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin among the wrestling greats to make the cover.
Professional wrestler Rey Mysterio poses at the premiere of the HBO documentary film ‘Andre the Giant’ at the ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles on March 29, 2018. FILE PHOTO: AP
Mysterio, who was wrestled around the world for various promotions since his 1989 debut, was selected in part to honour his 20-year career with WWE.
The five-foot-six Mysterio has long been one of WWE’s most popular – and colourful – wrestlers thanks to his collection of masks he wears in honour of the Mexican tradition of lucha libre wrestling. He’s won most major matches and championships in WWE, including the Royal Rumble Match in 2006 and the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania later that year. The father-son duo won the SmackDown tag team titles last year.
“This moment that I’m living right now with my son, I never thought I was going to be able to live it,” the 47-year-old Mysterio said.
WWE 2K22 is available for preorder on PlayStation and Xbox systems and on PC in digital formats. WWE 2K22 features four editions of the game.
Partners in the ring, Mysterio wants a rematch with his son on a gaming system to prove he’s the best in the family in the virtual squared circle.
“It’s frustrating to a point because I could never beat Dom,” he said.
His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam chaired a Special Meeting of the Adat Istiadat Council at the Prime Minister’s Office building yesterday. More details in Sunday’s Borneo Bulletin.
A viral message claiming 21 positive cases were detected in Tamu Kianggeh is untrue, said Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar. The minister said in terms of contact tracing at the Ministry of Health (MoH), the cases from Tamu Kianggeh did not exist and the viral message was “transmitted to scare the public”. More details in Sunday’s Borneo Bulletin.
