{"id":82188,"date":"2017-11-22T06:00:42","date_gmt":"2017-11-22T14:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/securingtomorrow.mcafee.com\/?p=82188"},"modified":"2025-06-02T19:36:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T02:36:18","slug":"malware-mines-steals-cryptocurrencies-from-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/other-blogs\/mcafee-labs\/malware-mines-steals-cryptocurrencies-from-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"Malware Mines, Steals Cryptocurrencies From Victims"},"content":{"rendered":"

How\u2019s your Bitcoin balance? Interested in earning more? The value of cybercurrency is going up. One way to increase your holdings is by \u201cmining,\u201d<\/a> which is legal as long as it is done with the proper permissions. Using your own mining equipment or establishing a formal agreement for outsourcing are two methods. Hardware vendors such as Asus manufacture motherboards that are specifically tailored for mining cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin mining involves complex mathematical calculations that are carried out by a computer\u2019s hardware and result in transaction records. These records are added to the Bitcoin public ledger, the \u201cblockchain.\u201d The ledger keeps track of all transactions and verifies these transactions are legitimate.<\/p>\n

Cybercriminals are also attracted to online currency, which fuels much of their business, including malware purchases and ransomware payments. Cybercriminals would rather find outside computing power instead of using their own equipment because the price of a dedicated mining machine could exceed US$5,000. Cybercriminals often seek to bypass the agreement phase and maliciously introduce malware that will either use a victim\u2019s computing power to mine for coins or simply locate and steal the user\u2019s cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n

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Three popular Bitcoin miners<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The number of instances of mining malware has increased significantly, to 1.65 million victims this year, according to one report.<\/a> That\u2019s a lot of slowing machines and increased electricity costs. For individual users, the slowness and increased electricity bill may be trivial, and go unnoticed for a time. For businesses with hundreds or thousands of machines, however, the cost increase can be substantial.<\/p>\n

The increased interest in illegally mining or stealing cryptocurrencies correlates easily with the increased value of these currencies. One Bitcoin (BTC) was recently worth more than $7,500, up from around $3,000 a few weeks ago. Even considering an earlier decline in value, Bitcoin has been trending upward for years. This upswing in value and the recent adoption of Bitcoin in Japan and South Korea as a legal tender<\/a> have increased the demand for acquiring Bitcoin and altcoins. In September cybercriminals stole $63,000<\/a> worth of cryptocurrency in about three months by taking advantage<\/a> of a flaw in Microsoft Windows Internet Information Services.<\/p>\n

\"\"The price of Bitcoin since 2010. <\/em>Source: CoinDesk.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Initial coin offerings <\/a>(ICOs) have also contributed to this gold rush. ICOs are similar to IPOs but instead of issuing to investors shares of a new company, the investors are given cryptocurrency in the hopes a new company will be successful and result in a higher value for their digital coins.<\/p>\n

During the last few years we have seen an increase in innovation by malware authors to infiltrate this space, resulting in malware that both mines or steals coins and spans various and platforms. Let\u2019s break down some of the tools and techniques in the world of crypto-mining\/-stealing malware that has arisen.<\/p>\n