[LINK] BitCoin DDoS and/or Wallet-Hack

[Roger Clarke]

Bitcoin value in rollercoaster ride after DDoS attack
Juha Saarinen
itNews
Apr 4, 2013 9:46 AM (3 hours ago)
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/338624,bitcoin-value-in-rollercoaster-ride-after-ddos-attack.aspx

Wallet service raided.

Digital cryptographic currency Bitcoin suffered a huge drop in value 
today, allegedly due to a denial of service attack against the 
largest Bitcoin trading exchange.

At the largest Bitcoin exchange, Mt Gox, Bitcoin rose sharply to 
US$147 before dropping to US$126 in just over an hour of trading. It 
then recovered to over US$140 before starting to trend downwards, 
hitting as low as US$113. Bitcoin against the Aussie dollar is 
showing a similar trading pattern.

Currently, Bitcoin is trading at US$123 at Mt Gox.

On its support site, the Mt Gox exhange told users that there would 
be delays with deposits and withdrawals.

"Due to a DDos attack, Dwolla deposits and withdrawals are currently 
not being processed and we are expecting some delays. This is 
expected to be resolved in 12 hours. Our apologies for the delay and 
inconvenience caused. Thank you for your patience while we work to 
resolve this." 

As of writing, representatives from Mt Gox said the issue has been resolved.
There is speculation that the swings in value are connected to a 
Bitcoin deposit service, Instawallet, being hacked and suspended its 
operations indefinitely.

Instawallet has not revealed how many Bitcoins were stolen in the 
raid on its database, but says it will start processing claims for 
users with wallets containing less than 50 BTC.

Those with more deposited may not be refunded, however, as 
Instawallet says "claims for wallets that hold a balance greater than 
50 BTC will be processed on a case by case and best efforts basis."

Despite having little use in the real world, Bitcoin has experienced 
a massive appreciation in value in a short period of time this year, 
with the total monetary base now thought to be around A$1.3 billion.

-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law               University of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University