ZeroAccess Botnet Cashing in on Click Fraud and Bitcoin Mining
Michael Mimoso
2012-10-30
http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/zeroaccess-botnet-cashing-click-fraud-and-bitcoin-mining-103012...
ZeroAccess is also involved in Bitcoin mining for a profit. Bitcoin, a virtual currency, is managed via peer-to-peer networks. Bitcoin miners perform the cryptographic calculations that verify Bitcoin transactions on the network, and they are rewarded in Bitcoin currency that can be converted to real cash. Half of ZeroAccess bots are in the Bitcoin mining pool, Kindsight said.
Sophos estimated that ZeroAccess could be earning as much as $2.7 million annually via Bitcoin mining.
Just another mention of Bitcoin in relation to malware/botnets etc - but interesting because it puts an estimate on the earnings specific to the botnet's Bitcoin mining activities.
(This figure of $2.7M would seem to imply that it has nearly 10% of the entire mining capacity if we assume an exchange rate of somewhere around $10USD)
