A cryptocurrency malware which has been used for almost 2 years now by Chinese hackers has made them around $2 million. Chinese police have recently apprehended 20 people who are suspected to have gained control of a large number of computers to mine cryptocurrency illegally.
This is not the first time that cryptocurrency has been mined illegally. Such digital hacks appear to be more secure for hackers since it is hard to find the culprit due to the nature of Blockchain, which does not give identities.
How Were The Hacks Done?
The hackers created a special type of malware and embedded it into plugins used in internet browsers. These plugins were then advertised on websites to do specific tasks such as increasing internet speed, just to lure people into downloading these plugins.
This was a success with over 5 million computers receiving advertisement for the plugins which resulted in 1 million computers infected with this malware.
Which Currency Was Mined And How Much?
It is believed that Digibyte, Decred and Siacoin tokens were mined within the two year time span. Doing this, the hackers have bagged almost $2 million in cryptocurrency.
However, it would be difficult to give the exact amount due to the fluctuating nature of cryptocurrency value.
Who Are The Hackers?
Some individuals behind this hack are still at large and yet to be identified and apprehended however authorities were able to catch a few suspects.
The Bottomline
This is not new in China. Previously, a large group of hackers were busted who had hacked into mainframe firms and were controlling 100,000 computers to mine cryptocurrency. It’s time to take the security up a notch so that such attacks can be prevented.
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