With Cryptocurrencies making its place all across the globe, cybercrimes become popular too.
Cryptocurrency being localized and having no central authority to keep a check on crypto activities provides a considerable latitude to the attackers to strike an attack on their will. Further, a Cryptocurrencies are gaining attention with the surge in their value appealing more cybercrimes.
Businesses such as Hotbit, Nagios XI software, Rarible, and Docker Hub have observed numerous cryptojacking attacks in the past two months.
- Prometei Botnet recently exploited microsoft exchange vulnerabilities and installed Moneri miner using an open-source Monero mining software, SearchIndexer[.]exe. The victimology was random and opportunistic instead of being highly targeted.
- Another Cryptocurrency stealing malware HackBoss was spread through Telegram. This malware is believed to have stolen over $560,000 from the victims till now.
- Lazarus BTC Changer malware which was observed to be back in action with JavaScript sniffers redesigned to steal crypto. The threat actor involved uses a never-seen-before tool.
- The U.S. educational organization was aimed by cybercriminals with the motive to compromise their networks for mining cryptocurrencies such as Monero, Litecoin, Bitcoin, and Ethereum.
These threat actors are currently exploiting several vulnerabilities to mine crypto or spread miners. They targeted Nagios XI software to exploit a remote command injection vulnerability, hence cryptojacking the Nagios XI version 5.7.5. Further, in the previous month a trending cryptocurrency malware campaign targeted an unpatched QNAP NAS device, hence exploiting two remote command execution flaws.
As we expect the Cryptocurrency market to experience a compounding growth rate in the coming years, a surge in cyber attacks becomes likely too. Organizations are recommended to maintain proper cyber hygiene, use multifactor authentication, and implement the latest patches for better cyber security. These cyber attacks can be avoided by following preventative actions.