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Kaspersky Says Telegram Flaw Used For Cryptocurrency Mining (bloomberg.com)

According to Kaspersky Lab, hackers have been exploiting a vulnerability in Telegram's desktop client to mine cryptocurrencies such as Monero and ZCash. "Kaspersky said on its website that users were tricked into downloading malicious software onto their computers that used their processing power to mine currency, or serve as a backdoor for attackers to remotely control a machine," reports Bloomberg. From the report: While analyzing the servers of malicious actors, Kaspersky researchers also found archives containing a cache of Telegram data that had been stolen from victims. The Russian security firm said it "reported the vulnerability to Telegram and, at the time of publication, the zero-day flaw has not since been observed in messenger's products."

42 comments

  1. Treat illicit mining like counterfeiting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And Invalidate the coins. Mining is bad enough for the environment without the unauthorized mining on top of it.

    1. Re:Treat illicit mining like counterfeiting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice troll, but I'm sure you're aware there's no way to tell the difference between "illicit" mining and "legitimate" mining.

      Furthermore, any attempt to ban "disliked" coins will result in a complete loss of faith in the coin: the average Joe will always worry that the majority will suddenly decide to ban his coins through no fault of his own, because they could have passed through the hands of a "dirty" actor in some previous transaction. When e-coins are seen as a bigger risk than gambling, Joe will take his investment dollars elsewhere.

      But you knew that, and you just want to see all ponzi-coins go down in flames, right?

    2. Re:Treat illicit mining like counterfeiting by tripleevenfall · · Score: 1

      Er... they already are tantamount to gambling in the eyes of the Average Joe

  2. Something better than mining by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    is sucking my DAMN balls, which is also environmentally friendly

  3. Sweet by dohzer · · Score: 1

    Sweet! What's Telegram?

    1. Re:Sweet by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Sweet! What's Telegram?

      Same problem here. I thought they must be referring to a literal telegram. Whoever picked the name "telegram" for their company must have really thought they were slick when they got it, but it only makes them look like a relic from the 1800s.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Sweet by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

      Names of old pantheon gods got used up.
      Decent and decently-short acronyms got used up.
      Recursive acronyms got used up.
      Puns got used up.
      We're now stuck with arbitrary word-thing pairing.

      We've been there since about the large-scale adoption of linux. Or haven't you noticed the arbitrary naming of major open source applications?

      --
      Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    3. Re:Sweet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because we can't just invent names?!
      Haven't heard of kids being named "ABCDE", or "Absidee"?

      Why not call the messenger program "WhippyJippyGoo"? Just invent something.

  4. I guess Kaspersky really doesn't care about the US by guruevi · · Score: 2

    If you can backdoor cryptomining into a "secure messaging" service, you can backdoor pretty much everything. I'm sure that any US-based service has similar "bugs". How hard is it to create an application that communicates with a web service without the requirement to run random code? Why is there even a code interpreter in a "secure messaging app"?

    Give me my IRC and PGP, at least I can read through and guarantee the code is clear in a matter of hours.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  5. Why by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why would any American ever use a Kaspersky product ever again?

    1. Re:Why by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would anyone on earth ever use an American security program? If it falls under US law it's automatically compromised and biased towards US interests (The US is no better than a fascist dictatorship, if you know US "security laws" then you know you have 0.0% safety from the US government"

    2. Re:Why by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Alternate question: Why would anyone vote for Trump?

      Answer: The same people will continue to do both, for the same reason. I'll let you figure out the reason.

    3. Re:Why by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      AC to help save computer users from the next Stuxnet, Flame, Equation Group.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    4. Re:Why by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      Alternate question: Why would anyone vote for Trump?

      Because the most unelectable politician possible rigged her primary while getting the press to pied piper a gameshow host that was even more unelectable, only to have to murder a big fan of the person she screwed out of the primary because as a party employee he copied the emails from the party email system and gave them to wikileaks, an organization that still has never had to retract anything, delivering proof to the people that she was even worse than they had already thought rigging her primary, getting debate questions before the debates, and draining the rest of the party completely dry of the funds needed to win elections across the board, all the while telling the public that you have to vote for #her.

      Clearly the proper response is McCarthyism.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
  6. Re:I guess Kaspersky really doesn't care about the by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Exactly. All these apps have evil long-term agendas and they all share data with each other. They were preparing for a War of the Worlds-style surprise attack. But without a true Linux smartphone, we're all being monitored and spied on at the lowest levels of the device. There's no escape. It's a rigged game. It will require revolution to break out of.

  7. opencl miner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.virustotal.com/#/file/ec13bf5c1a8d31aa3bc353ac45a182cbbef272d27d5ad76490aefd81230bbd6e/detection
    this opencl based miner was not detected buy kaspersky until i submitted it to them.
    it was called "precomp.exe" and resided in %appdata%\users\origin

    funny enough they knew of the file's existence and it was marked as safe, due to a common file name (and not hash ffs).
    saw some threads about a similar miner appearing in the winrar appdata folder lmao

    Kasperksy must step their game up - if not in full screen and GPU usage >99% for more than 5 minutes issue a red alert ffs
    i can do this with wmic or powershell in 1 line, why does not the top tier AV have this

    BTW the other russian dr web software DETECTS IT.

    I basically helped Kasper by submitting it to them and telling them it is not trust worthy.

  8. Re:I guess Kaspersky really doesn't care about the by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This was the desktop app though, not the phone app. More information would certainly be helpful here. If I have Telegram installed on my GNU/Linux system and they can mine crypto with it does that also mean they have access to my PC? Or is this more like a javascript miner that is being permitted to run, but can't really do any harm?

  9. Zero Day? Not so sure. Effects stupid people only. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I read the details of the vulnerability and it basically makes it such that you think you are opening a file that isn't executable. When you click to open what you think is an image file you are warned about the fact you are about to execute a potentially dangerous file. This appears to only impact Microsoft Windows users in practice. I can't see how it would impact GNU/Linux users. Even stupid GNU/Linux users (yes, they exist).

  10. What is "Telegram"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I first thought of Björk's remix album. Apparently it is a messaging app, after all.

  11. Re:I guess Kaspersky really doesn't care about the by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    More information would certainly be helpful here. If I have Telegram installed on my GNU/Linux system and they can mine crypto with it does that also mean they have access to my PC? Or is this more like a javascript miner that is being permitted to run, but can't really do any harm?

    "Being tricked into downloading" means people have to click a link in a text message, and generally execute it themselves afterward. It is a tiny little bit more advanced than that, using a right-to-left character to apparently reverse the entire filename, extension included, so it could possibly help fool more people, but if you're on Slashdot, on GNU/Linux (and you're writing it "GNU/Linux"), it ought to take more than that to get to you... (well, unless you're one of those geeks, who drink alcohol, take drugs, and/or get all click happy when people send them "exe.cuting.all.your.desires.see.me.naked.mp4", "exe.cutive.secretary.candid.shot.jpg", "exe.cuted.dude.gore.mp4", or "hs.kq6xi.the.meme.to.end.all.memes.webm" links, and actually execute those directly in some way or another...).

  12. Since when is Telegram a Kaspersky product? by _merlin · · Score: 1

    Kaspersky is disclosing a flaw their security researchers found in Telegram, which is not a Kaspersky product. The Telegram client code is open source, but that apparently hasn't stopped stupidity making it into the desktop client.

  13. GUI-lib developers rarely keep security in mind by xxxLCxxx · · Score: 1

    They may have 'hardened' their cryptographic algorithms, but the problem here is clearly that most GUI-libraries are not. :-(

    1. Re:GUI-lib developers rarely keep security in mind by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      It's not even self executing though. They're just using right-to-left UTF-8 to make "gpj.abc.exe" appear as "exe.cba.jpg", you can do this on most platforms too...

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    2. Re:GUI-lib developers rarely keep security in mind by xxxLCxxx · · Score: 1

      Yes, but that is a security problem. Sanitize your links and deactivate them, if you must...

    3. Re:GUI-lib developers rarely keep security in mind by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      These aren't links though? These are files being sent over Telegram.

      These are filenames. Literally, I can create files following this convention that exist that way on the Windows and Linux desktop. This is a "feature" of UTF-8.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    4. Re:GUI-lib developers rarely keep security in mind by xxxLCxxx · · Score: 1

      There's nothing wrong with that feature. If you happen to be left-handed, you might even prefer Arabic. ;-)
      If you are receiving an executable that way, there should be a warning. Better even, it should be renamed for safety. Just add an '_disabled_this_executable_' post(/pre)fix. Not everybody is into computers. Most Malware spreads by people downloading and clicking on it. Sometimes this takes out entire hospitals. Therefore, you have to keep this in mind when designing software. You can always have an option to enable executables, if it bothers too many professionals (which won't be the case here).

    5. Re:GUI-lib developers rarely keep security in mind by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      If you are receiving an executable that way, there should be a warning.

      When you launch an executable from Telegram that you've downloaded on Windows, it actually prompts you the normal way Windows does for a downloaded executable in a browser.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    6. Re:GUI-lib developers rarely keep security in mind by xxxLCxxx · · Score: 1

      Which is known to not be enough (hospitals down, etc.)...

  14. Re:I guess Kaspersky really doesn't care about the by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You seem to have read neither pgp nor irc client/server source code...

  15. Re:I guess Kaspersky really doesn't care about the by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

    Why is there even a code interpreter in a "secure messaging app"?

    I don't know what you're talking about? The vulnerability is using UTF-8 characters to make a filename use right-to-left, so "gpj.abc.exe" appears as "exe.cba.jpg". This works on other platforms too.

    Give me my IRC and PGP

    It works on IRC and PGP too.

    --
    Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
  16. Re:I guess Kaspersky really doesn't care about the by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have never seen so much misinformed selfrighteousness in a single post.
    Give this man a medal for absolutely having 0 knowledge of how software works

  17. creepy by dreamygeek · · Score: 1

    This is really becoming a serious concern. We are talking about the bugs that have been discovered. We don't know how many other apps are doing it too silently.

  18. Another attack not prevented by APK's work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It seems like we have a story almost every day about some attack that APK's work failed to prevent. As always he will chime in once he finds someone who managed to block it using hosts long after the initial attack happened and claim that his work can stop it now but only if one takes manual intervention. Too bad he has problems parsing English so doesn't realize what was actually said and doesn't seem to understand that his software is a very bad security janitor that tries but fails miserably to clean up the mess. I'm sure we can look forward to misquoted Slashdot users, incorrectly interpreted "experts", lots of name calling, as well as piles of fevered ranting.

  19. Kaspersky is not a reputable security company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    End of story. Why are they being presented here as anything but suspicious interlopers and unwelcome pests?

  20. Re:I guess Kaspersky really doesn't care about the by guruevi · · Score: 1

    I wrote my own IRC client on a 80286 running DR-DOS.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  21. Re:I guess Kaspersky really doesn't care about the by guruevi · · Score: 1

    The summary and post it links to implies the Telegram client is executing cryptomining code on its own. Sending a message backwards or forwards is not really an exploit, it's annoying or funny depending on the circumstance. But where is the option to send, link to or execute code?

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  22. Re:I guess Kaspersky really doesn't care about the by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

    The summary and post it links to implies the Telegram client is executing cryptomining code on its own.

    From the summary:

    Kaspersky said on its website that users were tricked into downloading malicious software onto their computers

    From the article:

    Kaspersky said on its website that users were tricked into downloading malicious software onto their computers that used their processing power to mine currency, or serve as a backdoor for attackers to remotely control a machine.

    From Kaspersky:

    According to the research, the Telegram zero-day vulnerability was based on the RLO (right-to-left override) Unicode method. It is generally used for coding languages that are written from right to left, like Arabic or Hebrew. Besides that, however, it can also be used by malware creators to mislead users into downloading malicious files disguised, for example, as images.

    I don't really see it "implying" that the "Telegram client is executing cryptomining code on its own" ?

    --
    Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
  23. Re:I guess Kaspersky really doesn't care about the by guruevi · · Score: 1

    It says "Telegram Flaw Used For Cryptocurrency Mining" implies that Telegram has a flaw that allows the clients to mine for cryptocurrency without the users' consent.

    Being able to screw around with text and fonts and sending someone a link isn't really an "exploit". There are hundreds of URL shorteners that will do that for you. If the user clicks, downloads and then chmod +x an executable (whatever the Windows equivalent is) then that's a problem with the user.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  24. So are stocks, bonds, and commodities. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

    Er... [crypto-currency coins are] already are tantamount to gambling in the eyes of the Average Joe

    So are the stocks, bonds, and (other) commodities. So is insurance. So what?

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  25. Most of Telegram's battery usage just comes from . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    not using Google's push servers, and permanently trying to keep the connection to its own, even when that is currently not possible.

    If you have wifi and mobile data off, turn off Telegram. With just that, I went from 2.5 to 3.5 days of battery life with my phone. (Blackview BV6000.)

  26. Re:I guess Kaspersky really doesn't care about the by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Have you tried reading gpg's code? The code style is so outdated that it's practically foreign (gotos anyone?). It's quite logical once you get used to it but, to someone unfamiliar with the codebase, it's not something they can dip into and vet in a couple of hours.

    If I remember correctly there's a custom type defined to handle private keys so that sensitive data is not stored contiguously in RAM.

  27. My work blocks this just fine - does yours? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject & answer that question. You CLAIM you write 'real securityware' & that I'd 'shit my pants if I knew who you are' (well, I don't see SHIT from you on either account)

    * All you do is constantly stalk or harass me behind UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous posts so I can't know WHO you are but I know WHAT you are - a punk "ne'er-do-well" DO-NOTHING ZERO 'jealous jowie' & nothing more.

    APK

    P.S.=> See subject & proof hosts work vs. this threat:

    0.0.0.0 url.plus
    0.0.0.0 vodafoneinfinity.sytes.net
    0.0.0.0 sytes.net
    0.0.0.0 windupdate.serveftp.com
    0.0.0.0 119.network

    Each placed into a hosts file blocks this threat & my hosts file already had that data so YOU ARE DEAD WRONG>/b>, lol... apk