Hackers Copied NSA Malware, Infecting Over Half-Million Cryptocurrency Miners

Cryptocurrency is undoubtedly making stirs all over the world. The general media has even chosen to report about crypto over Trump on many occasions, yet more people still believe in Trump. Sad.

2017 saw the highest peak of cryptocurrency so far, a strong signal for many to buy in. Right when they bought, though, a string of unfortunate events occurred. There was the fact that Bitcoins almost dropped to half its price, something the general public has never seen before in the stock. There was the exit of BitConnect, something that the crypto world has been well aware of before it left. Then there was a hack of millions of dollars’ worth of NEM.

Now, cybersecurity firms are reporting a new threat: cryptocurrency mining viruses. Yes, these malwares are targeted at people trying to mine for a few dollars’ worth each day. According to one firm, these hackers are using EternalBlue – the same exploit used by the NSA.

Researchers from Proofpoint discovered that the hacker group known as “Smominru” are targeting Monero miners, specifically. Their report shows that since their launch in May 2017, Smominru’s malware has already affected more than 526,000 Windows computers.

The haul from 9 months of work: an estimated $3.6 million USD, or 8,900 Monero. The infection is seen to be more densely located in India, Russia, and Taiwan.

Besides malware like this one being downloaded onto the victim’s computers, security firms are warning against another danger, this time on your internet browser. These infections utilize the JavaScript loaded onto their websites to use the user’s CPU to mine cryptocurrencies for the hackers.

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To protect your computer from such attacks, make sure to keep your computer up to date, and try to get anti-malware. It has been noted that victimized computers often are not running secure Windows computers, but that doesn’t mean Mac users are off the hook.

As for the browser attacks, I would recommend running a temperature sensor program on your computer, such as HWInfo. If the computer is getting too hot and all you’re doing is browsing Steemit, there is something awry.