{"id":28175,"date":"2013-08-21T00:02:09","date_gmt":"2013-08-21T07:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.mcafee.com\/?p=28175"},"modified":"2025-08-18T01:17:42","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T08:17:42","slug":"bitcoin-headlines-attract-malware-developers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/bitcoin-headlines-attract-malware-developers\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin Headlines Attract Malware Developers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bitcoin issues have been front-page news in recent months, especially after its surprising April exchange rate. In\u00a0the second quarter of 2013, we discuss this topic. The following timeline highlights recent events about this virtual currency.<\/p>\n

In our report we noted the growing interest in malware Bitcoin miners: malware that hijacks computer resources to mine (create) Bitcoins without the victims’ knowledge. In the same vein, security maven Brian Krebs posted a blog<\/a> about an affiliate program that pays its members to distribute a Bitcoin mining bot which forces host PCs to process Bitcoin transactions. Here is a look at how the numbers of such malware are growing in our sample database.<\/p>\n

The peak in the third quarter of 2011 followed the first rise, begun in May that year, in the value of Bitcoins. That increase was suddenly stopped by the hack happened the following month<\/a>. This year, we’ve again seen a peak in malicious Bitcoin miners following a rate rise and accompanying media coverage.<\/p>\n

Threats Report Summary<\/h2>\n

In the Threats Report, we also mention Litecoin, a Bitcoin rival created in October 2011<\/a>. Litecoin is currently the main Bitcoin competitor, but it is one of many decentralized virtual currencies that have appeared and disappeared. I have counted over one hundred. The best known:<\/p>\n