the The Cybersecurity firm Check Point in a Research article the knowledge on the latest Cryptojacker open. “King miner” is the name of the Malware that infected computers and servers to mine the cryptocurrency Monero. King miner is particularly difficult to identify and constantly evolving.
By Alex Roos
11. December 2018ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInxingemail
Among hackers there are, for some time, a new method of money: crypto-jacking. The attacker removed secretly a Virus on the victim’s Computer. After that the Virus starts in the Background with the “Mining” a Cryptocurrency. For the purposes of the Hacker Monero is particularly suitable. On the one hand, Monero is an ASIC-resistant crypto-currency, that is, it is designed for conventional graphics cards and CPUs. On the other hand, Monero is private, in other words, it does not keep track of where the captured Monero will be funneled.
A new king under the Cryptojackern
Even if CoinHive was a popular tool among the Cryptojackern, it had to vacate the throne for king miner. Check Point Research recently published the latest findings on the topic of crypto-jacking.
The king miner was discovered for the first Time in mid-June 2018. The Virus targets mainly IIS and SQL Windows Server. When you Inject the program bypasses the security measures, and can develop so unnoticed. How this attack works in technical Detail, explains Check Point Research in your report.
firstly, it is noteworthy that king miner is improved with the time. The king miner deletes old instances of itself in order to remain unnoticed.
improved king miner since the middle of the year. Source: research.checkpoint.com
the king Has infested miner, a System that draws 100 percent of computer power for the Mining of Monero. At least here it should make use of the Malware so noticeable.
Especially king miner is distributed according to the assessments of Check Point Research in Mexico, India, Norway and Israel. Germany seems to be not seriously affected.
The map shows where king miner is active. Source: research.checkpoint.com
Who is behind the Virus, is unknown. Here Monero proves its strength: The transactions can not be traced back. The affected computers join a private Mining Pool. The Wallet address is from a public Pool known.
Check Point Research predicts that this Upgrade, the Malware will be in 2019, an ongoing Trend. It is expected that the king miner has not assumed its final shape.
crypto-jacking harmful for the Monero Community?
of Course, it is reprehensible that attackers use the property of others for their own purposes. For this reason alone, crypto-jacking should be condemned.
On second glance, one must admit, however, that the mere existence of such Cryptojacker is detrimental to the Monero Ecosystem. Like all miners, the king miner need to the consensus rules of the Protocol. Consequently, it secures with the computing power of the network. The average Monero-user experiences a virtual hostage-taking of servers is not a disadvantage. In addition, this Form of Mining highlights the value of Moneros promise: It is a private, digital money. No observer can draw by watching the Blockchain conclusions on the origin or the destination of a transaction.
In the Cyberspace is running a constant race – a cat-and-mouse game between attackers and defenders. This seesaw of action and reaction has resulted in ever more advanced technologies. In the world of biology, to develop the virus and force the immune system to keep pace. It is therefore not surprising that a similar phenomenon is observed also in the virtual world to observe. Despair does not help, it is better to technologically upgrade. Exactly the Check Point Research offers with your SandBlast Protection.
