Washington State Educational Organizations Targeted In Cryptojacking Spree

If, for any reason, you suspect that the software provider you’re using hasn’t caught up on the cryptojacking attempt, you could reset your computer and reformat the hard drive. Even though Coinhive has been shut down, replicas and scripts of the software are still available, leaving numerous other websites exposed to potential cryptojacking. We publish resources related to digital security, malware threats and more. It’s called “cryptojacking,” and it’s the newest cybercrime danger for your business technology. Browser-based coinminers work as long as a browser remains open on an infected website—some are created for the sole purpose of cryptojacking, and others are co-opted without the website owner’s knowledge or consent.

It then spread over to as many containers as it could and eventually launches the cryptojacking scripts. A recent article “Trend Micro Attacks on Cryptomining Docker” reported hackers are now targeting Docker via container escape features to run malicious crypto-mining software for their personal gains. Two words—“cryptography” and “currency”—combine to form “cryptocurrency,” which is electronic money, based on the principles of complex mathematical encryption. All cryptocurrencies exist as encrypted decentralized monetary units, freely transferable between network participants. Or put more simply, cryptocurrency is electricity converted into lines of code, which have a real monetary value.

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Originally intended and still used as a legitimate website monetization tool, Coinhive’s mining code is currently the world’s largest cryptojacking threat. One interesting fact is that the company responsible for Coinhive nets 30 percent of all mining operations, even hacked instances.

CPU mining software takes up valuable resources and shortens the life of any system they are running on, an auxiliary cost of infection. These attacks are occurring both on-premise and in the cloud, leveraging any available systems. Threat actors could also be temporarily shifting away from browser-based cryptojacking if they relied on Coinhive to provide them with scripts. With Coinhive gone, threat actors would have to go to other script providers. While there are many other providers of the same sort of scripts, the removal of Coinhive could affect the overall ability of the technically unskilled to create web-based cryptojacking attacks. Browser-based cryptojacking involves a threat actor infecting a web server or website and then injecting a cryptomining script into an otherwise legitimate website.

If deployment is successful, the backdoor is then able to call and execute the cryptomining payload. In addition, the malware will download a mini shell that pretends to be a wp-load.php file. The researchers say that a UPX-packed cpuminer — used to mine LTC and BTC — has been delivered by way of malicious traffic. “We’ve recently seen a few forum threads where threat actors complain about having their virtual currency stolen,” the report said. You can’t simply disable it without seriously damaging the user experience.

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Like most other malicious attacks on the computing public, the motive is profit, but unlike many threats, it’s designed to stay completely hidden from the user. To understand the mechanics of the threat and how to protect yourself against it, let’s begin with a bit of background. The point is that it’s important to stay up to date with the current attack vectors in order not to become a victim. Staying vigilant can be tough, but here at Digital Shadows we constantly scour cybercriminal platforms to make sure our clients are aware of the new angles of attack.

Assuming that you already have anti-virus software installed on your computer, do a thorough scan of the device. The ill-intended miner will start running the code on your device by using its power to calculate “hashes”. Then, once he/she is done, the coins will be transferred into their digital wallets. Higher electricity bills, slow response times, computer overheating, or increased processor usage could be a sign of an attack.

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But the use of computing power for this criminal purpose is done without the knowledge or consent of the victim, for the benefit of criminals who are illicitly creating currency. We recommend following good cybersecurity practices to minimize the risks and to install trusted cybersecurity or internet security onto all of your devices.

The enterprise must create a culture of security that is ubiquitous throughout the organization. Everyone in the enterprise has a role to play in protecting the organization’s technological assets from the Board of Trustees, Senior Management to the frontline operational staff. For a hacker, the end goal is to install their software on as many machines as possible while remaining undetected. The criminals can run up tens of thousands of dollars worth of cloud computing or electricity bills before the problem is discovered, Jerome Segura, senior security researcher at Malwarebytes, told us. If the attack is against an individual, the performance hit would be so small that the user might not even notice. MassMiner is an interesting example because it uses many exploits for various vulnerabilities in one payload. Exploiting unpatched flaws in Oracle WebLogic, Windows SMB, and Apache Struts has earned close to $200,000 worth of Monero cryptocurrency for MassMiner’s creators.

One example is an incident where criminals cryptojacked the operational technology network of a European water utility’s control system, degrading the operators’ ability to manage the utility plant. In another instance from the same report, a group of Russian scientists allegedly used the supercomputer at their research and nuclear warhead facility to mine Bitcoin. If a dusting attack is successful, the attackers may use this knowledge in elaborate phishing attacks. A backdoor trojan how to prevent cryptojacking on your machine could allow a threat actor to deploy a particular malware called a cryptocurrency clipper, sometimes called a cryptocurrency stealer. These are also commonly downloaded as “innocent” third-party apps disguised as other programs like PDF readers, mobile games, or even COVID-19 tracers. These clipper programs prey on the lazy and those uneducated in cryptocurrency technology. The reverse proxy server retrieves the legitimate login page and loads a copy for the victim.

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This method helps to block both outside attackers and internal employees deciding underutilized company servers would be a good way for them to make some additional money. Although these admins may have the authority to load software onto systems, the NGFW will not allow them to reap any rewards. Most organizations do not think they would be a target for a cryptojacking attack, but these attacks are most effective with a high volume of systems. Perpetrators are looking for any system they can take over, even those without any significant data or purpose, to join the campaign, makingallsystems a potential target.

Alternatively, the script can be inserted into an online advertisement, whether malicious or wholly illegitimate, and used with a legitimate ad service so that the script runs every time the browser is open. The value and popularity of cryptocurrency have been growing across the globe, and criminals are always looking for ways to generate passive income. One of the ways they tie the two together is by using coin-mining malware. To review, cryptominers are placed on an infected machine or device and use its native processing power to mine for cryptocurrency.

The larger cryptocurrencies use teams of miners running dedicated computer rigs to complete the necessary mathematical calculations. This activity requires a significant amount of electricity – for example, the Bitcoin network currently uses more than 73TWh of energy per year. Access our best apps, features and technologies under just one account. Get antivirus, anti-ransomware, privacy tools, data leak detection, home Wi-Fi monitoring and more. The long and short of it is that cybercriminals do not have to comply with any rules, regulatory compliance mandates, or standards. Their tactics to disrupt, destroy and manipulate organizations technological system operations are ever-evolving. Therefore, the enterprise must be ever vigilant in the safeguard of their technological resources.

Tips On How To Stop Cryptojacking

The ability for cryptojacking software to form a diversion against larger, more sophisticated attacks is changing the threat landscape. Cryptojacking is now less about making money , and more about performing lightweight reconnaissance on potential victims. It’s uncommon for modern cryptojacking software to focus exclusively on mining cryptocurrency. At the very least, it will also disable your antivirus and open up some of your secured ports in order to communicate with its command and control infrastructure.

• On basis of the recent report generated by Kaspersky Lab, around 5 million cryptojacking attacks had taken place till today’s date.
• Cryptojacking has quickly become one the most common forms of malware.
• Cryptocurrency-mining malware, called WatchDog, has been running under the radar for more than two years – in what researchers call one of the largest and longest-lasting Monero cryptojacking attacks to date.
• Since 2001, Interplay has been a leader in managed services for small businesses, offering a range of tailored solutions for a varied client base.

Most cryptojacking software is designed to stay hidden from the user, but that doesn’t mean it’s not taking its toll. This theft of your computing resources slows down other processes, increases your electricity bills, and shortens the life of your device. Depending on how subtle the attack is, you may notice certain red flags. If your PC or Mac slows down or uses its cooling fan more than normal, you may have reason to suspect cryptojacking.

Also, when your computer is running at maximum capacity, it will run very slowly, and therefore can be harder to troubleshoot. The software works in the background, mining for cryptocurrencies or stealing from cryptocurrency wallets. The unsuspecting victims use their devices typically, though they may notice slower performance or lags. If servers in a data center are infected, the damage can be substantial. Application users may see degraded performance and make more support calls. During the first half of this year the number of cryptojacking detections was more than ten times higher than during the same time last year, according to the latest threat report from Trend Micro.

Cryptojacking has become prevalent enough that hackers are designing their malware to find and kill already-running cryptominers on systems they infect. To increase their ability to spread across a network, cryptomining code might include multiple versions to account for different architectures on the network. In one example described in an AT&T Alien Labs blog post, the cryptomining code simply downloads the implants for each architecture until one works. To prevent cryptojacking while visiting websites, make sure each site you visit is on a carefully vetted whitelist. You can also blacklist sites known for cryptojacking, but this may still leave your device or network exposed to new cryptojacking pages. When browsing online, disabling JavaScript can prevent cryptojacking code from infecting your computer.

Cryptojacking can target individual consumers, massive institutions, and even industrial control systems. For most users, browser maintenance only requires a couple of quick notes. First, make sure your browser is up-to-date so you have basic defenses against the most recent cryptojacking scripts. These updates can’t promise total protection, but they provide the most recent browser security changes. If you need to protect additional devices at home or at work, consider talking to everyone else involved about the threat. You should also seek assistance from your company’s IT department or enterprise services to help you prevent cryptojacking. In March, Avast Software reported that cryptojackers were using GitHub as a host for cryptomining malware.

Now, the cryptocurrency of choice for cryptojacking is called Monero. This operation uses the visitors’ CPU power to generate cryptocurrency, while they are on the website.

Our solution achieves a striking 0.96 of F1-score and 0.99 of AUC for the ROC, while enjoying a few other properties, such as device and infrastructure independence. Given the extent and novelty of the addressed threat we believe that our approach, supported by its excellent results, pave the way for further research in this area. Cryptojacking is now the most popular and prevalent cyberthreat, displacing ransomware attacks. The primary impact of cryptojacking is on a computer’s performance as it consumes processor cycles leaving the machine running abnormally slow. It also increases the cost of your electricity bill because cryptocurrency mining requires a large amount of computing power, and attackers run it continuously so they can earn more.

• Cryptojacking malware enables an attacker to steal other peoples’ computational power for use in their attacks.
• You must watch out for reduced and erratic performance, especially when using less resource-intensive software.
• The enterprise must invest in outfitting its computer systems with robust endpoint protection.
• For cryptojacking Monero, it’s also capable of command and control operation and self-propagation through the exploitation of multiple vulnerabilities and credential brute-forcing.
• Full BioErika Rasure, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Business and Finance at Maryville University.

An evolution has occurred with the preferred attack method among hackers. Where feasible, disable JavaScript in browsers to directly prevent cryptojacking scripts from executing. X-Force research saw an explosion of cryptojacking activity in 2018, with cryptojacking attacks far exceeding all other forms of coin theft attacks. Was discovered to serve as an access vector for cryptojacking attacks. About how you can protect all your business technology from cryptojacking and other malicious attacks. Interplay can help you ensure that your systems stay protected and malware-free with our personalized IT security services that combine remote monitoring and backup with hands-on tech help when you need it. But let’s back up just a second here to explain the cryptocurrency mining process, because this might seem confusing to people.

Cryptojacking is a relatively new attack, but one that is gaining popularity amongst bad actors. Initially, browser-based cryptojacking was the primary method of hijacking resources but declined sharply after Coinhive shut down in 2019.

The aforementioned list of usernames and passwords can be found in the appendix section. Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls can detect and block all the exploit attempts from this kind of malware family. These products learn your organization’s communication patterns and spot potentially malicious anomalies.

Author: Kevin Helms