Bitcoin’s booming value has driven a huge rise in crypto-currency themed malware, say security firms.
\nIn one month, anti-malware software company Malwarebytes said it stopped almost 250 million attempts to place coin-mining malware on to PCs.<\/p>\n
Symantec said it had seen a “tenfold” increase in the amount of malicious code connected with crypto-cash.
\nCyber-thieves are using both dedicated software, hacked websites and emails to snare victims.<\/p>\n
Cashing in<\/strong> On 29 November, the value of one Bitcoin surpassed $10,000 (\u00a37,943) – a massive increase on the $1,000 each one was worth at the start of 2017, although that figure has now fallen back sharply.<\/p>\n “With $10,000 being breached, and all the hype, a lot of people are trying to make money with crypto-coins,” said Mr Wuest.<\/p>\n Most of the activity seen by Symantec and other security firms involves crypto-coins other than Bitcoin. This was because it took a huge amount of computer power to produce or “mine” bitcoins.<\/p>\n By contrast, he said, mining other crypto-coins such as Monero could be done on desktops, laptops and even smartphones.<\/p>\n Many of these alternative coins had risen in value alongside Bitcoin, said Mr Wuest.<\/p>\n Mining involves solving complicated mathematical problems and those who take part can be rewarded with coins. The more machines one person can get mining on their behalf – the more coins they are likely to amass, said Mr Wuest.<\/p>\n Malwarebytes told the BBC that its security software was now, on average, stopping about eight million attempts a day by coin-mining code to compromise users’ PCs.<\/p>\n Much of this coin-mining software was found on websites that had been hacked, to give attackers the ability to install their own code. One researcher found almost 2,500 sites hosting mining code.<\/p>\n Other cyber-thieves have hijacked extensions and add-ons for web browsing programs to insert the malicious code. Once on a computer, the malware often runs processors at close to 100% to get as much mining work done as possible. On smartphones, this can mean batteries are depleted very quickly.<\/p>\n Much of the mining malware seen before now relied on using a victim’s browser, said Malwarebytes’ security researcher Jerome Segura. Attackers had now adapted malware to ensure it mines coins for as long as possible and did not stop when a browsing program was shut down.<\/p>\n “The trick is that although the visible browser windows are closed, there is a hidden one that remains opened,” wrote Mr Segura in a blog detailing how the malware works.<\/p>\n The tiny window lurks beneath the taskbar on a Windows machine and would not be noticed by a victim, he said. Adverts that run on porn sites had been found harbouring this malware, he added.<\/p>\n It is not only websites that are being caught up in attempts to cash in on the crypto-cash boom, said Nicole Eagan, chief executive of security firm Darktrace.<\/p>\n Ms Eagan said it had found coin-mining programs of one sort or another on the internal networks of 25% of its customers. Many sought to use the significant computer processing power available inside corporate networks to generate coins.<\/p>\n “Sometimes it’s an external intrusion into the network and sometimes its an employee that’s looking to do it,” she said. “It’s rampant at the moment.”<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bitcoin’s booming value has driven a huge rise in crypto-currency themed malware, say security firms. In one month, anti-malware software company Malwarebytes said it stopped almost 250 million attempts to place coin-mining malware on to PCs. Symantec said it had seen a “tenfold” increase in the amount of malicious code connected with crypto-cash. Cyber-thieves are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":379553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106],"tags":[15127,1492],"yoast_head":"\n
\n“There’s been a huge spike,” said Candid Wuest, a threat researcher at online security firm Symantec, adding that it had been caused by the rapid increase in Bitcoin’s value.<\/p>\n