[2018-01-28] CryptoMining Malware Epidemic: 55% of Businesses Affected Worldwide

[cybersofts]

Crypto-Mining Malware Epidemic: 55% of Businesses Affected Worldwide, Including YouTube




Another case of “cryptojacking” was detected on YouTube and resolved by Google over the course of this week, Ars Technica reported Friday, Jan. 26. According to the report, anonymous hackers have managed to run ads on YouTube that consumed the visitors’ CPU power and electricity in order to mine cryptocurrencies for the attackers.

The users started posting complaints on social media this week telling that their antivirus programs detected cryptocurrency mining code in the ads that have been displayed to them by Youtube.

According to the report of the cybersecurity company Trend Micro, the attackers have managed to place mining malware on YouTube via the Google DoubleClick advertising platform. The ads disproportionately targeted users from Japan, France, Taiwan, Italy, and Spain.

The vast majority - ninety percent - of ads were using JavaScript code provided by Coinhive, a controversial cryptocurrency mining platform that allows its subscribers to earn income by using other people’s computing power in an unauthorized manner.

As has been discovered by Trend Micro on Friday, the YouTube ads have been responsible for a threefold increase in Web miner detections worldwide.

In reaction to complaints from the users, Google - who owns YouTube - has announced that the situation has been resolved in a couple of hours. According to an email from the company, "the ads were blocked in less than two hours and the malicious actors were quickly removed from our platforms."

However, there is still no precise information about the timeframe of the events as Google didn’t provide any additional data, while Trend Micro claims that the warnings about the abusive ads started emerging as early as Jan.18.

Earlier this month, the software security firm Check Point issued a report about a sharp increase in the prevalence of crypto-mining malware, stating that 55% of businesses worldwide are affected by the attacks. The report declared Coinhive to be the number 1 “Most Wanted Malware.”


Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-mining-malware-epidemic-55-of-businesses-affected-worldwide-including-youtube

[jseverson]

If people are wondering how to make sure they never get exploited by this, there's a simple fix: Use the NoScript add-on when you're using Firefox, or ScriptSafe when using Chrome. They disable nearly all scripts by default so it's going to be a pain to set up at first, but once you get used to it, you'll be free from any script-based browser attack, and even annoying ads to boot.

Anyway, can these type of malware actually harm you in different ways , or are they just confined to using your CPU for mining? I know they're stealing resources, but is there any possibility they could also plant spyware of sorts?

[laurenB7742]

If people are wondering how to make sure they never get exploited by this, there's a simple fix: Use the NoScript add-on when you're using Firefox, or ScriptSafe when using Chrome. They disable nearly all scripts by default so it's going to be a pain to set up at first, but once you get used to it, you'll be free from any script-based browser attack, and even annoying ads to boot.

Anyway, can these type of malware actually harm you in different ways , or are they just confined to using your CPU for mining? I know they're stealing resources, but is there any possibility they could also plant spyware of sorts?

Thanks for this tip. Before I install the add-on for Chrome, does it affect the functioning of websites or it just prevents script-based browser attacks?

[cybersofts]

If people are wondering how to make sure they never get exploited by this, there's a simple fix: Use the NoScript add-on when you're using Firefox, or ScriptSafe when using Chrome. They disable nearly all scripts by default so it's going to be a pain to set up at first, but once you get used to it, you'll be free from any script-based browser attack, and even annoying ads to boot.

Anyway, can these type of malware actually harm you in different ways , or are they just confined to using your CPU for mining? I know they're stealing resources, but is there any possibility they could also plant spyware of sorts?

I just installed ScriptSafe for my Chrome, I was using AdBlock Plus and Ghostery.
+2 merits added for the information... thanks

[Kprawn]

Bitcoin is really getting a bad reputation because of all these stupid Malware and Ransomware. A lot of the miners are not

mining Bitcoin, but rather some obscure Alt coin, so Bitcoin gets pulled into this. Mining with people's desktop computers can

never be profitable, even if you grabbed a army of bots. Most journalist do not know the difference between Bitcoin and other

Alt coins. 

[richardsNY]

Most journalist do not know the difference between Bitcoin and other Alt coins.  

Basically that. I have once seen a mainstream media journalist talk about Bitcoin's limited supply, and then mainly how it can be that people call Bitcoin's supply limited, while there are hundreds and hundreds of altcoins in this market.... Their end result was that Bitcoin's limited supply is a false claim because of that.... I seriously never cringed so hard when reading an uneducated mainstream media article about crypto. Bitcoin is the main crypto taking over the headlines, which isn't always something the mainstream media does in a friendly and elegant way. The same applies to criminals using Bitcoin. It almost looks like an anti Bitcoin campaign.

[J. Cooper]

Wow that's extremely clever. Impressive to say the least. But that doesn't make it less scary. Things would be a lot easier if these bright brains would use their brains for the good instead of the bad. Oh well. Luckily I've always been using adblock so I don't think I was exploited (definitely going to give scriptsafe a shot though).

[jjacob]

Firefox often gives a warning if a particular script on a webpage is slowing down your system. I think it will be a good red flag to use to find out if a webpage is infected. Of course if you are comfortable browsing with no-script, then nothing like it. Most news websites these days implement some kind of check to find out if any plugin like ad-block is being used.

The 55% (businesses infected by malware) quoted in the article seems to be an extremely high number to me. The number of businesses infected would be significantly lower than individuals infected, given that businesses are much more worried about security and have dedicated IT and security teams. They restrict the users of their systems from installing software