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Linux Malware Infects Raspberry Pi Devices And Makes Them Mine Cryptocurrency (hothardware.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the easy-as-Pi dept.

An anonymous reader quotes Hot Hardware: If you're a Raspberry Pi user who's never changed the default password of the "pi" user, then heed this warning: change it. A brand new piece of malware has hit the web, called "Linux.MulDrop.14", and it preys on those who haven't secured their devices properly... After scanning for RPis with an open (and default) SSH port, the "pi" user is logged into (if the password is left default), and the password is subsequently changed. After that, the malware installs ZMap and sshpass software, and then it configures itself. The ultimate goal of Linux.MulDrop.14 is to make digital money for someone else, namely the author of the malware, using your Raspberry Pi.

3 of 84 comments (clear)

  1. Get Rich Slowly... by Powercntrl · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm not too familiar with the Raspberry Pi, but a cursory view of the specs tells me even a huge botnet of 'em still wouldn't make you wealthy through mining crypto any sooner than the heat death of the universe. Most crypto mining these days is done on specialized hardware or large banks of high-end video cards. Seems to be the reason why most malicious software intent on acquiring wealth through Bitcoins simply encrypts your files for ransom.

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    DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
  2. Not new... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    I've been seeing raspbian boxes trying to find other raspbian boxes for over a month now, possibly dating as far back as March at the minimum. Good news is that they're easy to block, since SSH is clear text for the beginning of the session, all you need to do is string scan for "SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_6.7p1 Raspbian" and drop.

  3. Re: Is this even worth it? by maple_shaft · · Score: 4, Informative

    In my opinion no. Having expiremented with creating a Pi miner for Litecoin, back before ASICs existed for mining Scrypt algo, I got an abysmal hashrate of 0.2MH, and that was with overclocking on a Model B. To put into more perspective I had a cheap second hand Radeon graphics card on my desktop that got hundreds of times better hashrate. When mining 24/7 on a pool I would still only get about .5 LTC which was worth scarcely a few dollars at the time. Now that is worth about $15 today though. Pis make terrible miners.