Latest news about Bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies. Your daily crypto news habit.
The time in which Linux users could boast that they were immune to malware is over, as now Windows and Mac users are not alone in their despair of being targets of hackers. In fact, a new Monero mining malware is now targeting Linux users and it is becoming quite a nuisance for the users.
A new research made by the Special Ops team Jask indicates that, since November, a new, modified version of a well-known trojan named Shellbot is being widely used in order to mine Monero.
According to the company, the criminals may be a part of a Romanian hacker group which is known as “Outlwaw” or “Haiduc”, which means outlaw in Romanian. The group is specialized in malware and has been active for quite some time now.
Jask confirmed that the toolkit used by the attackers had three components, an Internet Relay Chat botware, a revenue stream via Monero mining and a scan and brute force tool. The group was targeting Linux users, as research made by Unit 42 of Palo Alto Networks had already discovered last month, and it could disable any cloud-based security service in order to remain undetected.
Why Monero?
Monero is often hailed as the favorite crypto os criminals. Why? Because it is very anonymous. The privacy coin offers the kind of protection that criminals want because it encrypts all transactions, so it can be used for any kind of illegal activities.
Also, it is easy to mine it without people knowing who is getting the coins, which is another reason why criminals love Monero so much. They can basically make money by using cryptojacking malware freely and then spend however they wish to.
Cryptojacking Cases Are More Popular Now
Unfortunately, the cryptojacking attacks are haunting the industry and users now. Only in the first half of last year, detection of cryptojacking malware was up incredible 500% and many businesses in countries like the United Kingdom were affected by then.
Some sources indicate that up to 4.4% of all the Monero tokens mined so far came into circulation because of malware, which is far from being an insignificant number.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.