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At Least 1.65 Million Computers Are Mining Cryptocurrency For Hackers So Far This Year (vice.com)

Posted by msmash on from the where-we-stand dept.

According to new statistics released on Tuesday by Kaspersky Lab, a prominent Russian information security firm, 2017 is on track to beat 2016 -- and every year since 2011 -- in terms of the sheer number of computers infected with malware that installs mining software. From a report: So far in 2017, the company says it has detected 1.65 million infected machines. The total amount of infected computers for all of the previous year was roughly 1.8 million. The infected machines are not just home computers, the firm stated in a blog post, but company servers as well. "The main effect for a home computer or organization infrastructure is reduced system performance," Anton Ivanov, a security researcher for Kaspersky, wrote me in an email. "Also some miners could download modules from a threat actor's infrastructure, and these modules could contain other malware such as Trojans [malware that disguises itself as legitimate software]." Ivanov said that the firm doesn't know how much money has been made overall with this scheme, but a digital wallet for one mining botnet that the company identified currently contains over $200,000 USD.

37 comments

  1. Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm impressed the summary didn't defame the security firm.

    1. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Slashdot went full corporate apologist long ago. The nerds are gone. Only the shit remain.

    2. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Only the shit remain.

      Yes well, you're a shining example of that, aren't you?

    3. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's okay. Some Bitcoin fanboy will be along soon enough to tell us about how this is all part of the Libertarian dream, so there's no reason for anyone to be outraged, oh and please buy his coins. Please, pretty please, because he wants to cash out before the market tanks and he's left with nothing.

    4. Re:Wow by infolation · · Score: 4, Interesting

      And, ironically, today is the day JP Morgan's boss suddenly decides that bitcoin is a fraud that will blow up, and is only fit for use by drug dealers, murderers and people living in North Korea and that he would fire 'in a second' anyone at the investment bank found to be trading in bitcoin.

      When big money becomes that openly dismissive you know some shiat's gonna go down.

    5. Re:Wow by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 5, Informative

      When politicians can't face up to their own mistakes, they blame foreigners for all their country's problems. Hillary Clinton lost, what in her mind, should have been simple election victory for herself. She can't accept the fact that a lot of folks just plain don't like her. So the evil Russian Hackers must be the blame. For his part, Trump said we need a wall to defend ourselves against the Mongol Hordes from Mexico. They all do the same thing.

      Hey, bashing foreigners is the new orange or black or whatever.

      "They" are out to get us, and "we" must be vigilant and get them first . . .

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    6. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not me. I never visit /. anymore, particularly not to make pointless AC posts.

    7. Re:Wow by zifn4b · · Score: 1

      "They" are out to get us, and "we" must be vigilant and get them first . . .

      Point me to a time in human history where tribalism wasn't a pervasive source of conflict. After you answer that question, explain how we are to arrive in that world Utopian state where we have solved that problem. If you can do it successfully and get the world to adopt it, you will win a Nobel Prize. Good luck!

      --
      We'll make great pets
    8. Re:Wow by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      . For his part, Trump said we need a wall to defend ourselves against the Mongol Hordes from Mexico. They all do the same thing.

      That's not really true. Trump said the US needs a wall to protect itself from illegals, and he's right. Before someone says "walls don't work" they work very well in Israel, where rampant suicide bombings and mass-murders of entire families dropped to zero. They're sure working in Hungary and Greece. Thousands of people trying to cross per month, to under two dozen. I'd be very happy if Canada started instituting some similar policy, since we're now being flooded by illegals who are entering from the US. The social safety net is already under strain from them, enough so that Ontario had to beg the feds for more money. Quebec is right on the verge of doing the same. And people who are citizens, have been kicked out of hotels(in Canada hotels are often rented out and paid by government when there is a lack of actual low income housing), and low income housing to give these illegals rooms. The average wait in Ontario for low income housing is between 4-8 years depending where you are in the province.

      "They" are out to get us, and "we" must be vigilant and get them first . . .

      This whole thing isn't bashing foreigners. It's bashing people who illegally enter a country, piss on the laws, and then try to jump to the front of the queue to become citizens. And before someone tries the 'but ur a white male...' nah I'm half-asian, who's family legally immigrated to Canada, back when Canada still operated indentured servitude farms for immigrant families while they waited out the process(that's from the 1950's). That was basically legal slavery. You had to go there, your family had to work there and in most cases you stayed there for 3-5 years in complete poverty at a level that would be considered criminal today.

      Nothing pisses me off more then people who abuse immigration, or try to queue jump because they want a 'better life.' Do it legally. Integrate into society. You won't make people pissed off at you then.

      Now you can get back to arguing over whatever the hell you want.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    9. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      RanchKid - you don't live near a border do you? Didn't think so. All nice and cozy in your mom's basement posting on /.?

      Better border security is needed.

    10. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not really true. Trump said the US needs a wall to protect itself from illegals, and he's right.

      Why? You forgot to say that.

      This whole thing isn't bashing foreigners.

      Yes, it is.

      It's bashing people who illegally enter a country, piss on the laws, and then try to jump to the front of the queue to become citizens.

      Yes, bashing them foreigners who you contend are rotten and despicable criminals.

      Thanks for your membership in the Know-Nothing party.

      Nothing pisses me off more then people who abuse immigration, or try to queue jump because they want a 'better life.'

      Your story indicates you are jealous, yes.

      Which is the root of the problem, your tribalism.

      As said already:

      "They" are out to get us, and "we" must be vigilant and get them first . . ..

      That's your mindset.

      Thanks for demonstrating it.

      You need to face your anger.

    11. Re:Wow by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Are you saying somebody was actually able to polish a turd?

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    12. Re:Wow by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Do you mean orange is the new black?

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    13. Re:Wow by Mashiki · · Score: 0

      Why? You forgot to say that.

      You mean besides the crime? That it promotes human smuggling via ease of access? It's a simple act to reduce both?

      Yes, it is.

      Explain, otherwise you're just going 'muh illegals.'

      Yes, bashing them foreigners who you contend are rotten and despicable criminals.

      Thanks for your membership in the Know-Nothing party.

      If you're entering a country illegally, they are criminals. This isn't rocket surgery.

      Your story indicates you are jealous, yes.

      Jealous of people who are taking resources away from people within the host country that already need them? Or jealous of the people who are flaunting the law, and being a person who believes in the rule of law?

      Which is the root of the problem, your tribalism.

      Laws = tribalism now. Brilliant! What's next in our era of post-modernist thought?

      As said already:

      "They" are out to get us, and "we" must be vigilant and get them first . . ..

      That's your mindset.

      Thanks for demonstrating it.

      You need to face your anger.

      So why don't you explain why you don't want the rule of law? Why are you in favor of people abusing the system? Why are you in favor of these illegals pushing down wages? Why are you in favor of them committing fraud to collect social assistance? And with this, explain what's gained by sanctuary cities where some of these people commit multiple felonies and then are released by those cities. And said persons continue to commit crimes, where the entire situation becomes a revolving door.

      Are you so much in favor of simply letting say a rapist go because your ideology thinks they're too stupid to apply for citizenship legally? Oh right, they wouldn't be allowed citizenship because they committed a felony or I/O. See the problem here? You're throwing the rule of law to the wind because of your feelings, you don't care that other lives are ruined as long as it makes you feel better.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    14. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      just a couple of points. we have federally regulated wage bottoms. many employed, non-documented workers, work for legitimate businesses, legally operating. now, most payrolls use your SSN to track your wages and withholdings throughout the year. I personally know of multiple businesses that had to throw that system out and assign their own UID system, because too many of them were changing SSN's every year! Do you think any of those withholdings are going to be paid out? Do you think that social security isn't fully aware they've got 1347 guys using the same SSN all over the country? Of course they do! And they do nothing about it for obvious reasons! Also, in case you were wondering, it's not the business's job to make sure people aren't committing fraud, btw. There's a lot of complicit actors at the federal level tho.

      Also, the point of sanctuary cities isn't to protect rapists from deportation. If you commit a criminal act, sure let the justice system work (no one is arguing this point, but nice try at the straw man). The point is to prevent my local taxes to be used in enforcing federal immigration laws. I don't want my police spending their time checking papers. No one is saying that INS can't come to the city and round people up. They do have jurisdiction everywhere in our country. But they don't get to use my law enforcement or jails. Seems totally fair to me.

    15. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why? You forgot to say that.

      You mean besides the crime? That it promotes human smuggling via ease of access? It's a simple act to reduce both?

      Indeed, get rid of the onerous border controls. Right, you want a simple solution, well, there's no need to smuggle humans who can travel legally without it being a crime.

      Yes, it is.

      Explain, otherwise you're just going 'muh illegals.'

      You're just doing "dem illegals are criminals" when you complain about it as if it were an offense against humanity, and when you resent that somebody somewhere, gets different treatment than your ancestors, better treatment even, it serves to reveal your real posture.

      Yes, bashing them foreigners who you contend are rotten and despicable criminals.

      Thanks for your membership in the Know-Nothing party.

      If you're entering a country illegally, they are criminals. This isn't rocket surgery.

      Actually, it is quite a complex art, and not to be treated simply, and you need to figure out a way to convince people besides screaming "dem illegals are criminals"

      Your story indicates you are jealous, yes.

      Jealous of people who are taking resources away from people within the host country that already need them? Or jealous of the people who are flaunting the law, and being a person who believes in the rule of law?

      Yes, you are jealous of them, and don't want them to have resources even in a land of plenty, and jealous that they won't go through whatever onerous treatment you think justifies yourself as being superior.

      Which is the root of the problem, your tribalism.

      Laws = tribalism now. Brilliant! What's next in our era of post-modernist thought?

      Actually, it's pretty ancient thought, there's many a time been an emphasis in the legal strictures that some tribes are preferred, while others are disdained.

      The point is getting past that aspect of the law.

      As said already:

      "They" are out to get us, and "we" must be vigilant and get them first . . ..

      That's your mindset.

      Thanks for demonstrating it.

      You need to face your anger.

      So why don't you explain why you don't want the rule of law?

      Laws are made by man, and often tend to be abusive and broken. Therefore, I follow the principals of my land, which state that the laws are subordinate, not determinate. Quite detailed in manner too.

      Why are you in favor of people abusing the system?

      I'm opposed to the system abusing people.

      Why are you in favor of these illegals pushing down wages?

      Actually, other way around, I'm in favor of changing the circumstances that let employers abuse them to push down wages.

      Why are you in favor of them committing fraud to collect social assistance?

      Again, other way around. I'm in favor of changing the circumstances that lead to fraud in collecting social assistance.

      And with this, explain what's gained by sanctuary cities where some of these people commit multiple felonies and then are released by those cities.

      Oh, you don't know why cities don't comply with the incessant demands of a federal system that can't get its ducks in a row, often asks them to detain people without cause, without court order, and without follow-through? You don't know why cities don't treat their residents in such a way that they're afraid to come out for help, that they have to lie and hide, and allow who knows what abuses to fester in the darkness brought on by oppression?

      Funny, they said why. Which is why they complied with the letter of the law, a demand of yours, rather than anything else. Hoisted by your own petard then, ar

    16. Re:Wow by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      Why don't you go to your nearest Canadian Doctor and ask for help instead? Being a toddler on the Internet isn't a crime, it's a sickness.

      Funny how your entire comment simply broke down into insults, and the inability to actually argue anything. Let alone countering any point at all, like the even most basic things like how sanctuary cities do operate in a revolving door fashion.

      I'm finding this mindset you have very interesting. "Tyrannical law of feelings" is actually enforcing existing laws. What will you post modernists come up with next.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    17. Re:Wow by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      Also, the point of sanctuary cities isn't to protect rapists from deportation. If you commit a criminal act, sure let the justice system work (no one is arguing this point, but nice try at the straw man). The point is to prevent my local taxes to be used in enforcing federal immigration laws. I don't want my police spending their time checking papers. No one is saying that INS can't come to the city and round people up. They do have jurisdiction everywhere in our country. But they don't get to use my law enforcement or jails. Seems totally fair to me.

      Something that factually happens = strawman. Brilliant. So why are you supporting not using the law against those who are violating the law? Maybe you can go ask all those people in Europe who thought the same way you did, right up until some of them got beat to death, or the crown jewels stolen from the palace.

      Or how about here in Canada, where people were quite 'welcoming' of these illegals, until they turned around and started acting like street gangs, attacking kids, and so on. I always find it interesting that people like yourself line up for the "oh just let them in" right until it actually impacts you.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    18. Re:Wow by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      TL;DR but per your start, Israel hasn't had a rocket attack in ... ... oh, wait.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  2. CPU power put to good use by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    better than ransomware, isn't it? and it supports decentralization!

    1. Re:CPU power put to good use by BlackPignouf · · Score: 2

      It also supports Irma and Jose.

    2. Re:CPU power put to good use by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      We're spending the last of our energy inheritance making millions of computers play a 0-player game in order to earn points in an entirely virtual currency.

      Still, it's no more crazy than most of what's going on right now.

    3. Re:CPU power put to good use by infolation · · Score: 1

      Most of the non-hacked computers calculating cryptocurrency are Chinese pools using energy derived from hydroelectric power, because it's cheap. And therefore just slowing the earth down by some infinitesimally small amount.

      So, in this case, the poor use of our energy inheritance remainder is caused by hacking, not the inherent requirements of mining.

    4. Re:CPU power put to good use by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You seem to know this stuff, so perhaps you'd be kind enough to edumacate me:

      1) Why would consuming hydroelectric power slow the Earth down? I thought the "wasted" energy that the dams harvest would otherwise be dissipated as heat, not rotational momentum.
      2) How does it make sense for the Chinese (or anyone, really) to keep mining these days. Even if the energy and hardware costs are free, the miner would make the money for like 1-2 months max, due to the rapidly increasing cryptographic difficulty level.

      I mean, at the rate that the difficulty is increasing now, the mining produces exponentially diminishing returns: lets say you get the dedicated rig that will make you $1000 this month... the month after that, the same hardware returns $20, then $0.10 the month after that, and 0.0001 on the fourth. With the exponentially increasing difficulty, how does it make sense for anyone to to mine anything?

    5. Re:CPU power put to good use by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The value of the currency has ALSO been skyrocketing.

    6. Re:CPU power put to good use by infolation · · Score: 1

      Why would consuming hydroelectric power slow the Earth down?

      1. This explains it better than I could.

      2. China's cheap electricity keeps Chinese miners at peak efficiency and allows them to outlast their foreign competitors. Many miners outside of China are attracted to Chinese mining pools due to their size. EG Antpool has mined nearly 20% of all blocks over the past year. I speculate that AntPool disguises its true hashrate by running subsidiary pools (ViaBTC, BTC.com, GBMiners, CANOE).

      Also, it's a bit conspiracy-minded, but maybe they're indirectly subsidized by the Chinese government with a long term goal of state control of cryptocurrencies. IE the end-game isn't profit but control.

    7. Re:CPU power put to good use by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OK, thanks a lot of the info!
      Really appreciate you taking the time to share your insight.

  3. How do I know if my PC is infected? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    How to know if my personal PC and the business computers are infected or not?

    1. Re:How do I know if my PC is infected? by link-error · · Score: 1

          Check the CPU load?

      --
      -Unresolved symbol? Byte me!
    2. Re:How do I know if my PC is infected? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Good idea, but what if he's running Windows?

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  4. How nice of them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As a hacker, I thank these computers.

  5. Return on investment by DMJC · · Score: 1

    I hope they're mining Litecoin... Bitcoin seems to be so ridiculously hard to mine for these days.

    1. Re:Return on investment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're not investing a thing, it's all profit. Never mind if it costs the victim ten cents electricty to mine 0.1 cent worth of coin.

  6. Kaspersky is jealous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that these computers are not collecting Bigdata for FSB/KGB

  7. Hackers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please.
    At least on ./, at least in the headlines, could we keep the naming straight?
    People who infest other peoples PCs, and mine bitcoins on them might be hackers, yes. But mostly descriptively, they are criminals.

    I read the title as "bitcoin has 1.6 million idiot miners who run it on their PC".

  8. Death penalty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is reason enough to ban cryptocurrency and make its usage illegal and should be sentenced to death penalty!