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

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.

Comments

Wow

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:Wow

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:Wow

[Anonymous Coward]

Only the shit remain.

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

Re:Wow

[infolation]

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.

Re:Wow

[PolygamousRanchKid]

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 . . .

Re:Wow

[zifn4b]

"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!

Re:Wow

[Mashiki]

. 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.

Re:Wow

[DontBeAMoran]

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

Re:Wow

[DontBeAMoran]

Do you mean orange is the new black?

Re:Wow

[Mashiki]

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.

Re:Wow

[Mashiki]

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.

Re:Wow

[CaptainDork]

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

How do I know if my PC is infected?

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:How do I know if my PC is infected?

[link-error]

    Check the CPU load?

Re:How do I know if my PC is infected?

[DontBeAMoran]

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

Re:CPU power put to good use

[BlackPignouf]

It also supports Irma and Jose.

Return on investment

[DMJC]

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

Re:CPU power put to good use

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:CPU power put to good use

[infolation]

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.

Re:CPU power put to good use

[infolation]

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.