Alleged Bitcoin creator denies he's the one
March 7, 2014: 12:00 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
So is he or isn't he? Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, a 64-year-old retired engineer, is denying that he was the creator of Bitcoin.
But that didn't stop a bizarre car chase across Los Angeles with reporters tailing a Prius he was riding in.Nakamoto told the AP that many details in Newsweek's 4,500-word article are correct, such as the fact that he once worked for a defense contractor. But he said the basic premise of the cover story -- that he is the face behind Bitcoin -- is completely false.
"I got nothing to do with it," he said, repeatedly, according to the AP.
Bitcoin was created in 2009, but it's founder has always been shrouded in secrecy. While its creator was identified as "Satoshi Nakamoto," the popular assumption was that name was only a pseudonym.
The virtual currency has been getting a lot of attention in recent months, both as the number of retailers accepting bitcoins as payment grows and the value climbs and falls on various exchanges.
One of the largest exchanges handling trades of Bitcoin, Mt.Gox, filed for bankruptcy last month after disclosing that much of the bitcoins in accounts there had disappeared.
Newsweek is standing by the story, which is featured in the relaunch of its print edition, its first return to print in 15 months.
Related: What is Bitcoin?
Nakamoto had agreed to give an Associated Press reporter an interview over sushi Thursday afternoon. But when he left his suburban home in Temple City, Calif., he was met with a throng of reporters who proceeded to chase him across town.
On Twitter, Los Angeles Times deputy business editor Joe Bel Bruno, who was part of the chase, described how reporters barged into the restaurant.
"This is the OJ Simpson-esque chase of #Nakamoto! YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS UP," Bel Bruno posted.
Hackers steal data for 12 million customers at South Korean phone giant.
(CNN) -- Police have arrested two people in
connection with a cyber-attack that yielded personal details for 12
million customers of one of South Korea's biggest phone companies.
One of the suspects,
identified only by the surname Kim, used his own customized hacking
program to break into the computer system used by KT Corp, Incheon
Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Lee Sang-Won said in a statement
obtained by CNN Thursday.
Kim, whom police said was
29 year old, accessed bank details, home addresses and employment
information for three-quarters of KT's 16 million registered users. This
data was sold on to a 37-year-old man identified only as Park. The
owner of a telemarketing business, Park used this information to sell
cell phones posing as a KT representative, police said.
The two made 11.5 billion won (US$10.8 million) from the scheme, which dated back to February 2013, police added.
A third person initially implicated in the case was released.
The investigation is now expanding to other hacking activities and other cell phone sales stores.
KT said in a statement
that it would actively cooperate with the police investigation to
"minimize the damage to its customers," and "figure out the route of
information leakage."
Credit card scam
In January this year, the personal data for 20 million South Korean credit card customers was stolen by a worker at the Korea Credit Bureau -- a company that offers risk management and fraud detection services.
The worker, who had
access to various databases at the firm, is alleged to have secretly
copied data onto an external drive over the course of a year and a half.
Clients of three Korean companies -- KB Kookmin Bank, Lotte Card and Nonghyup Bank -- were hardest hit by the data theft.
Following this leak,
financial regulators have been working to revise legislation to beef up
the protection of personal information, the Yonhap news agency reported.