An increasing number of malware samples in the wild are using host systems to secretly mine bitcoins. Bitcoin is a decentralized, virtual currency, and bitcoins are created by large numbers of CPU-intensive cryptographic calculations.
In addition to archiving transactions, each new ledger update tag bitcoin bot some newly minted bitcoins.
Earlier this week, I learned of a Russian-language affiliate program called FeodalCash which pays its members to distribute a bitcoin mining bot that forces host PCs to process bitcoin transactions hat tip to security researcher Xylitol. Because services like Virustotal share information about new malware samples with all participating antivirus vendors, scanning the installer will make it more likely that antivirus products on host PCs will flag the program as malicious.
Rather, the administrator urged users who want to check the files for antivirus detection to use a criminal friendly service like scan4u[dot]net or chk4me[dot]com, which likewise scan submitted files with dozens of different antivirus tools but block those tools from reporting home about new and unidentified malware variants. This Google-translated version of the site shows the builder for the installer. I gained access to an affiliate account and was able to grab a copy of the mining program.
I promptly submitted the file to Virustotal and found it was flagged as a trojan horse program by at tag bitcoin bot two antivirus products. This analysis at automated malware scanning site malwr.
It also indicates that the program beacons out to pastebin. Also, the administrator demands that new users demonstrate the ability to garner hundreds to thousands of installs per day. This is tag bitcoin bot rather high install rate, and it tag bitcoin bot many if not all affiliates are installing the mining program by bundling it with other executable programs distributed by so-called pay-per-install PPI programs.
Over the past few days, the top discussion on many cybercrime forums has been which virtual currency will be the safest bet going forward? This knee-jerk reaction is understandable, given that private crime forums are now replete with postings from members who reported losing tens of thousands of LR dollars this week.
But as some of the more seasoned and reasoned members tag bitcoin bot these communities point out, there are several aspects of Bitcoin that make it especially unsuited for everyday criminal commerce. Another forum member agreed: Tag bitcoin bot compared Bitcoin to a fashionable high-yield investment program HYIPa Ponzi-scheme investment scam that promises unsustainably high return on investment by paying previous investors with the money invested by new investors.
I understand the drug dealers on Tor sitessince this is pretty much the only tag bitcoin bot they can receive without concerns about their identities, but if you sell anything illegal, WMZ should be the choice. Perfect Money also announced on Saturday, May 25 that it would no longer accept tag bitcoin bot account registrations from U. For now, tag bitcoin bot seems the primary beneficiary of the Liberty Reserve takedown will be WebMoney.
This virtual currency also has barred U. But not everyone in the underground who got burned by Liberty Reserve is ready to place his trust in yet another virtual currency. Ninja so adamantly believed this that, prior to the official press announcements from the U. Tag bitcoin bot two forum tag bitcoin bot took him up on the wager.
Criminals who operate large groupings of hacked PCs tend to be a secretive lot, and tag bitcoin bot guard their assets against hijacking by other crooks. TDSS also removes approximately 20 malicious programs from host PCs, preventing systems from communicating with other bot families. The storefront for this massive botnet is awmproxy. Follow me on Twitter. Join me on Facebook. Krebs on Security In-depth security news and investigation.
Bitcoin Mining by Botnet An increasing number of malware samples in the wild are using host systems to secretly mine bitcoins. The FeodalCash bitcoin mining affiliate program. Fluctuation in Tag bitcoin bot values. A logo from perfectmoney. Your email account may be worth far more than you imagine.
Github bitcoin bot. This software helps you open and cancel orders very fast. Selection for your Litecoin Radeon 7970 Scrypt Miner Settings search on eBayThis is useful for some cards like the 6970.