Two Russians Charged With Illicitly Mining Crypto on State Hardware

Published at: Dec. 17, 2019

Two Russian citizens are being prosecuted for allegedly targeting computers at state organizations to illicitly mine cryptocurrency.

The two unnamed individuals purportedly infected the hardware with a program that mines cryptocurrency via a web browser, local media agency Tass reported on Dec. 16.

One of the suspects, a resident of the city of Kurgan, is reported to have created an extensive botnet to infect computers across various regions of the country. The second suspect reportedly focused his mining operations on hardware at the state water utility JSC Rostovvodokanal. 

Mining can use up to 80% of targets’ processing power, official warns

As reported, the illicit use of a computer’s processing power to mine for cryptocurrencies without the owner’s consent or knowledge is sometimes referred to as cryptojacking. 

While Tass does not disclose details of the cryptocurrency mined by the two suspects, malware such as a coin miner — based on Coinhive code – is one example of a prevalent program designed to illicitly mine Monero (XMR) via a browser.

In a statement delivered at a press conference on Dec. 16, Nikolay Murashov — Deputy Director of Russia’s National Coordination Center for Computer Incidents —  noted that “up to 80% of the computer’s free power can be used to generate virtual coins, and a legitimate user may not even know about it."

Murashob underscored that this illicit use of processing power can adversely impact business operations and damage companies’ performance, warning organizations to implement adequate cybersecurity measures. 

Tightening regulations

Perhaps the most notorious case of illicit mining at a state-owned organization in Russia was foiled back in Feb. 2018, when Russian security agents scored a coup against a group of nuclear engineers at a top-secret nuclear warhead facility who had attempted to use one of the country’s most powerful supercomputers to mine Bitcoin (BTC).

Recent developments in Russia have included an alleged plan to pass legislation that would allow authorities to confiscate cryptocurrency holdings as part of judicial proceedings.

Cointelegraph has also reported that Russia’s central bank, financial regulator and Ministry of Finance are said to be supportive of a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services.

Tags
Related Posts
15 Arrested in China for Allegedly Bribing Internet Cafe to Mine Crypto
Chinese authorities arrested fifteen men suspected of corrupting an internet café administrator to mine cryptocurrency. Local crypto industry news outlet 8BTC reported on Sept. 3 that police in Henyang, a city in south central China’s Hunan province, arrested the man for cryptojacking. Over 9,000 computer administrators were reportedly involved in helping the unauthorized mining operation. A profitable endeavor The cryptocurrency mined by the suspects in the four months ending in July has been sold for over a hundred million yuan (about $14 million). Local police received a report suggesting that many local Internet cafes were running cryptojacking malware. The findings …
China / Sept. 4, 2019
Alleged Capital One Hacker Accused of Secretly Mining Cryptocurrency
The individual accused of perpetrating a massive-scale hack of credit card issuer Capital One also allegedly hacked cloud customers’ servers to mine cryptocurrency for herself. Court filings published on Aug. 28 reveal that Paige A. Thompson has been indicted on charges of both perpetrating the Capital One breach and of hacking into the servers of her employer’s cloud services customers for the purposes of cryptojacking. “Cryptojacking” is an industry term for stealth crypto mining attacks which work by installing malware or otherwise gaining access to a computer’s processing power to mine for cryptocurrencies without the owner’s consent or knowledge. The …
Decentralization / Aug. 29, 2019
Russia: Darknet Marketplace Plans $146M ICO for Global Expansion
Russia’s largest darknet marketplace is looking to raise $146 million in a token offering that would allow it to go global. As Forklog reported on Dec. 11, the token sale is almost certainly illegal — in this case not merely for flouting securities laws or other financial regulations. “A new era in the West” The operators of the marketplace, known as “Hydra,” have ambitions to roll out their model of anonymized, rogue trading for illicit substances at a massive scale. An investment memorandum, accessible only via dark web browsers like Tor, claims the platform’s global expansion “will start a new …
Cryptocurrencies / Dec. 13, 2019
Researchers Discover New Cryptocurrency-Focused Trojan
Computer analysts at cybersecurity firm Zscaler ThreatLabZ have found a new type of trojan that targets cryptocurrency users. In a blog post published on Aug. 8, the company reveals that it identified a new remote-access trojan (RAT) that is able to capture administrative control of the targeted computer, retrieve browser history and look for activities involving cryptocurrency, credit cards, business, social media and others. The malware is called Saefko and is written in .NET, a software framework developed by Microsoft and used to develop a wide range of applications. The post further explains: “RATs are usually downloaded as a result …
Cryptocurrencies / Aug. 9, 2019
Alleged Bitcoin Mining Scam Reported in Thailand
Victims of an alleged cryptocurrency mining scam have filed claims against the suspected perpetrator with the Technology Crime Suppression Division in Thailand, the Bangkok Post reports on Feb. 18. Per the report, 30 people have filed a complaint with police, stating that they were fooled into an alleged investment scam called “CryptoMining.Farm.” This purportedly led the loss of 42 million baht ($1.34 million). Local authorities reportedly suspect that a total of 140 individuals were affected by the scam. CryptoMining.Farm, which has offices registered in both Bangkok and Chiang Mai, supposedly promised investors an annual return of 70 percent in addition …
Cryptocurrencies / Feb. 19, 2019