James Levenson from Bitcoinist.com wrote:
As often as we hear stories of regulation and clampdowns,
we’re now hearing more of hacks and malware. A new incursion
is discovered on an almost weekly basis now as cybercriminals
edge away from ransomware and into cryptocurrency mining malware.
The latest detection was made by Chinese security researchers
who uncovered an Android-based mining worm.According to reports, cybersecurity researchers at China’s 360Netlab
revealed a strain of mining malware called ADB.Miner over the weekend.
As in previous exploits, the malware harnesses the hardware of the
device in order to mine Monero, the encrypted and anonymous cryptocurrency.OPEN PORTS EXPLOITED
The researchers revealed that over 7,000 devices have already been
exploited by the vulnerability that spreads via open port 5555.
A diagnostic debug tool can inadvertently leave this port open,
which then enables ADB.Miner to spread to other Android-powered
devices. Currently, the attack has been confined to smartphones,
tablets, and TV set top boxes. The team said:The 5555 ADB interfaces of those devices have already been opened
before [they’re] infected. We have no idea about how and when this
port was opened yet.It was also revealed that the malware contained code from the Mirai
botnet. Last year, Mirai brought the internet to its knees when it
infected millions of compromised IoT devices to launch waves of DDoS
attacks. A modified version of Mirai called Satori uses
Satori.Coin.Robber to scan for devices operating as Ethereum mining
rigs through port 3333.MAC ATTACK
For those forever defending Apple, the news was also gloomy.
In a separate story, it was revealed by security firm SentinelOne
that new Mac malware is being distributed via MacUpdate.
The Mac Trojan, named OSX.CreativeUpdate, also harnesses CPU power
to surreptitiously mine for Monero.
According to security researchers at MalwarebytesLab:The malware was spread via hack of the MacUpdate site, which was
distributing maliciously-modified copies of the Firefox, OnyX,
and Deeper applications … This is the third piece of Mac malware
so far this year, following OSX.MaMi and OSX.CrossRAT.Mac mining malware is particularly alarming since most Apple aficionados
live under the false pretense that their machines are immune.
This has been proven false on many occasions.These incidents will increase over time as cryptocurrencies become
more lucrative for cybercriminals. Just last month, mining malware
was found in Google’s YouTube advertising and the month before hidden
in Facebook’s Messenger. Maybe it is time for the monopolies of the
internet and technology to focus a bit harder on their security rather
than the billions of dollars they are raking in.
Wow, I'm such an apple enthusias with my Macbook, iPhone and iPad too,
and a little bit scared now...
As many of us, I thought that apple has some level of security against
such attacks. Would we apple guys need security suites like the one from eset.com
from now on? Do someone have experience with such infections on apple devices?
What are your thoughts and fears, or aren't you scared at all?
image credit: bitcoinist.com