A digital currency known as Bitcoin BTC bitcoin botnet edition miami been causing a bit of a media stir of late due to its use for illicit purposes. Some readers of this blog will be familiar with and have used a digital currency bitcoin botnet edition miami some form in the past to purchase goods online. Some may even remember failed digital currencies such as e-goldwhich had operations suspended by US authorities after its proprietors were bitcoin botnet edition miami on four counts of violating money laundering regulations back bitcoin botnet edition miami With Bitcoin, we now have another multi-million dollar digital currency market without any central authority for regulation.
An in-depth explanation of Bitcoins is available on Wikipedia. This is referred to as Bitcoin mining and, if successful in solving a block, it will lead to a reward of up to 50 Bitcoins per block. As of Junethere are just over 6. Well, cybercriminals might just be thinking the exact same thing. We can now add Bitcoin mining to that list. While Symantec has not observed any botnets currently being used to mine Bitcoins, the possibility is there.
Through the use of pooled Bitcoin mining, a botnet herder could covertly mine Bitcoins using the computational power of a victim's computer. Another selling point of the Bitcoin currency is its apparent anonymity; along with decentralized authority spread bitcoin botnet edition miami a peer-to-peer network, this makes the currency even more attractive to cybercriminals.
So what does that mean if we want to do pooled Bitcoin mining on a botnet? Using an online Bitcoin mining calculator —which takes into account the current difficulty factor for solving Bitcoin blocks, the computer's hash rate, and Bitcoin exchange rates—we get the following data for Bitcoin botnet mining:. Bitcoin botnet edition miami point to note about these figures is that, as mentioned in the caveat, the compromised computer systems would have to be running 24 hours a day, which is highly unlikely.
Also, the earnings would vary from day to day depending on luck. So, as we can see, there is the potential for cybercrimanals to earn money this way.
However, another question is if Bitcoin mining is more profitable than other uses for the botnet. Taking this information into account, Bitcoin botnet mining as an attractive and profitable venture for cybercriminals is very questionable. Symantec has seen one such threat designed to steal Bitcoins from your digital wallet called Infostealer. Coinbit, and we expect to see more in the near future. As always, Symantec recommends that you keep your antivirus definitions up to date to ensure protection against new threats such as Infostealer.
Login or Register to participate. Peter Coogan Symantec Employee. Using an online Bitcoin mining calculator —which takes into account the current difficulty factor for solving Bitcoin blocks, the computer's hash rate, and Bitcoin exchange rates—we get the following data for Bitcoin botnet mining: Blog Entry Filed Under:. ProductsEndpoint Protection - Still Playing Catch Up? Webinar May 10, How Secure is Your Hybrid Cloud? Peer-tested Bitcoin botnet edition miami That Work. Authorized Training - Control Compliance Suite Featured Posts Latest Intelligence for August Western energy sector targeted by sophisticated attack group.
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