Firefox Quantum, the latest version of open-source internet browser Firefox, has a new privacy toggle that protects against cryptojacking, according to a blog post by Mozilla on May 21. Mozilla previously warned official blog post that websites can deploy scripts that launch a crypto miner on a user’s machine without them being aware — a practice known as cryptojacking. To combat these exploitative practices, Mozilla partnered with online privacy company Disconnect to create a crypto mining blocker for their browser. Users can now toggle an opt-in feature, that purportedly blocks would-be cryptojackers from taking advantage of spare computing power to …

A global threat report has concluded that the three most common malware variants detected in April were crypto miners, according to a news release on May 14. Check Point Research said Cryptoloot, malware that uses the victim’s computing power to mine for crypto without their knowledge, was last month’s biggest threat. XMRig, open-source software which is used for mining monero (XMR), was in second place. Rounding off the top three was JSEcoin, a JavaScript miner embedded in websites. Despite their prevalence, the company’s researchers believe that criminals are shifting their focus away from crypto mining. Several popular services used to …

The Shellbot cryptojacking malware has gone through an update and come out with some new capabilities, technology news website TechCrunch reported on May 1. Per the report, these findings come from Boston-based cybersecurity firm Threat Stack. The company claims that Shellbot, which was first discovered in 2005, has received a major update. The original Shellbot was capable of brute-forcing the credentials of SSH remote access services on Linux servers protected by weak passwords. The malware then mines privacy-focused monero (XMR). Threat Stack claims that this new-and-improved version is capable of spreading through an infected network and shutting down other miners …

Illicit crypto mining — or cryptojacking — against consumers “is essentially extinct,” declares a report released by cybersecurity company MalwareBytes on April 23. Per the report, after in-browser mining service CoinHive shut down in early March — when the team claimed that the project had become economically inviable — cryptojacking against consumers has sharply decreased. At the same time, the number of such attacks targeting businesses increased from the last quarter. Furthermore, MalwareBytes also notes that bitcoin (BTC) holders who use Electrum wallets on a Mac have lost over $2.3 million in stolen coins to a Trojanized version of the …

American software security firm Symantec found a spike in a new crypto mining malware that mainly targets enterprises, TechCrunch reports on April 25. The new cryptojacking malware, dubbed Beapy, uses the leaked United States National Security Agency (NSA) hacking tools to spread throughout corporate networks to generate big sums of money from a large amount of computers, the report notes. First spotted in January 2019, Beapy reportedly surged to over 12,000 unique infection across 732 organizations since March, with more than 80% of infections located in China. As found by researchers, Beapy malware is reportedly spread through malicious emails. Once …

A federal jury has convicted two Romanian alleged cybercriminals of spreading malware to steal credit card credentials and illicitly mine cryptocurrency, an announcement from the official website of the United States Department of Justice revealed on April 11. The malware allegedly spread by the suspects was reportedly used for cryptojacking and to steal credit card and other data that the suspects would have sold on darknet markets and used to engage in online auction fraud. As the Justice Department press release reports, Bogdan Nicolescu, 36, and Radu Miclaus, 37, were convicted after a 12-day trial. The two individuals were charged …

Major open-source browser Mozilla Firefox has launched new protections against crypto mining malware in its new browser versions, according to a blog post published on April 9. In its latest Firefox Nightly 68 and Beta 67 versions, Mozilla has enabled a new level of protection against crypto mining and fingerprinting hack attacks in a part of the browser’s Content Blocking suite of protections. The new browsing feature has been developed in collaboration with privacy and security software firm Disconnect, and represents a collection of blacklists of malware domains associated with fingerprinting and crypto mining scripts. Disconnect’s blacklist is reportedly capable …

A Japanese court has acquitted a man who was accused of illicitly mining cryptocurrency by using the computing power of visitors to his website, Japan Today reported on March 27. The Yokohama District Court reportedly ordered to acquit a 31-year-old website designer, who allegedly ran Coinhive on his website to mine digital currency. The program allows the user to take advantage of website visitors’ spare computing power to mine cryptocurrencies — a practice known as cryptojacking. The accused reportedly stated that the program could not be considered a virus. Presiding Judge Toshihiro Homma reportedly said that the man’s actions "[do] …

Ukraine’s Cyber Police have arrested a man who allegedly placed crypto mining malware scripts on his own websites, local law enforcement reported on March 26. The cyber crime unit of the national police of Ukraine arrested a 32-year-old man from the Bukovina region who allegedly placed cryptojacking software on a number of educational websites that he created and administered. The unspecified websites and internet resources had 1.5 million monthly visitors, the police reported. The police also stated that the installed malware on the websites was deploying visitors’ devices’ CPU and GPU power to illegally mine cryptocurrencies. The authority has conducted …

Cybercriminals are reportedly favoring unhurried approaches in attacks made for financial gains, with cryptojacking as a prime example of this shift. IT news website ComputerWorld reported on this development on March 14. Data released by cybersecurity company Darktrace reveals that cryptojacking attempts increased by 78 percent in 2018, and, according to ComputerWorld, the company also said that this trend continued in 2019. The ComputerWorld article cites Max Heinemeyer, director of threat hunting at Darktrace, commenting on the findings. He reportedly said that since many ransomware victims may be unable to pay a ransom in Bitcoin (BTC) due to technical ineptitude, …

About 400 servers running virtualization software Docker were found to be vulnerable to outside exploitation. Most of them were seemingly running Monero (XMR) mining software, cybersecurity company Imperva reports on March 4. A misconfiguration of the vulnerable Docker hosts permits public access to the Docker API, which should only be locally accessible. This misconfiguration, combined with a newly discovered vulnerability, allows attackers to obtain administrator rights on the server and install software of their choice. Since a hacker could install any software this way, the vulnerability doesn't only permit cryptojacking, but also the installation of any other malware or use …

United States-based software corporation Microsoft has removed eight Windows 10 applications from its official app store after cybersecurity firm Symantec identified the presence of surreptitious Monero (XMR) coin mining code. The news was reported by Symantec on Feb. 15. Stealth crypto mining — also know as cryptojacking – works by installing malware that uses a computer’s processing power to mine for cryptocurrencies without the owner’s consent or knowledge. According to Symantec, the firm first detected malicious XMR mining code within eight apps — issued by three developers — on Jan. 17. After Symantec alerted Microsoft, the corporation is reported to …