When it comes to mine cryptocurrencies, its considered to be an expensive venture; because it requires the enormous value of computing power. Hence, In order to make a handsome amount of money in digital currency; cyber attackers began to utilize malware which grabs the computing resources from the hijacked computers.
Security researchers at security firm ESET found; a malware that affected numerous Windows web servers with a pernicious cryptocurrency miner. It particularly served hackers to earn Monero that value more than $63,000 in a time period of only three months. Hackers exploited Vulnerability Of Microsoft IIS 6.0. Here the need of a VPN cannot be ignored. Those who are lenient with their online privacy can be a victim of such cybercriminals. Think twice before you manage your online bank accounts without using a secure VPN service. Have look at two of the most reliable VPNs of the globe if you have made your mind to switch to a VPN. ExpressVPN and Nord VPN. Click here for the ultimate privacy guide.
The Exploitation of Vulnerability Of Microsoft IIS 6.0:
Today, ESET released a report which revealed; hackers just have done adjustments to authorized open source Monero mining software. They misused an identified vulnerability in Microsoft IIS 6.0 to surreptitiously install the malicious miner on unpatched Windows servers.
Zhiniang Peng and Chen Wu caught exploitation of the vulnerability (CVE-2017-7269) by the attackers in March 2017. It resides in the WebDAV service of Microsoft IIS version 6.0– which is the web server in Windows Server 2003 R2.
Unpatched Machines Targets Of The Attackers:
ESET’s investigators could not identify the attackers. The report only declares that the attackers are infecting unpatched windows web servers by means of cryptocurrency miner since May 2017
to earn Monero.
However, cybercriminals are just victimising unpatched computers operating with Windows Server 2003. In order to execute them as the component of a botnet, which has previously served them earn more than $63,000 worth of Monero. As the vulnerability lies in a web server. so its open for all. Hence anyone can access and exploit it easily.
What Is Monero?
Monero is a recently found cryptocurrency same as Bitcoin.
The malware mines Monero has a cumulative market estimate of approximately $1.4 billion. It is considerably behind Bitcoin in market capitalization. However, cybercriminals’ interest in Monero is because of its better level of privacy; other than Bitcoin, Monero allows untraceable transactions and is unknown cryptocurrency in the world yet.
Why Do Hackers Prefer Monero?
Moreover, the reason hackers are preferring Monero is that it applies a proof-of-work algorithm called CryptoNight, which befits computer or server CPUs and GPUs.Whereas Bitcoin mining entails particular mining hardware.
As it turns out, there are other cases that have been reported; where malware mining Monero has spotted stealing computing resources from the hijacked computers.
