Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud
    • Cybersecurity
    • Small Business

    Malware Targets BitCoin Virtual Currency

    By
    Fahmida Y. Rashid
    -
    July 1, 2011
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Proving that cyber-criminals will steal practically anything, researchers have recently identified malware designed to steal BitCoins.

      BitCoins are anonymous decentralized virtual currency commonly used online among people interested in keeping their transactions secret. While the digital currency is not directly connected to any central banking authority or government, the “real world” value of a BitCoin is established on an online electronic exchange, Andrew C. Herlands, director of security strategy of Application Security, told eWEEK. BitCoins have generally hovered around $14 to $17 per unit.

      “I have a stone. We both agree it’s worth a dollar. So, when I give you the stone, we agree you now have a $1,” Herlands said, explaining the theory behind BitCoins.

      BitCoins are commonly used for illegal transactions, such as buying drugs online, but that is not the only purpose. During its 50-day spree, the group LulzSec also received donations of BitCoins from supporters, noting that the funds were entirely untraceable. The virtual currency may also be gaining some legitimacy, as Meze Grill, a New York City restaurant, recently started accepting BitCoins.

      Now a particular piece of malware is designed to trick user accounts into sending money, via BitCoins, to the thief’s account without the user’s knowledge, Alex Gostev, chief security expert at Kaspersky Lab, wrote June 28 on the SeucreList blog. The account receiving transferred BitCoins was suspended because the server hosting it detected suspicious activity.

      The mechanism for spending BitCoins is fairly simple. Users buy BitCoins with real money and keep them in their e-wallet, which is client software installed locally on the computer. When a user wants to give someone some BitCoins, they enter a cryptographic code assigned to the recipient, and the “funds” are transferred from the user’s wallet to another person’s wallet via a peer-to-peer network. No names are required, and BitCoins are like cash: Once gone, it’s gone.

      Some BitCoins users get in the business of “mining,” or generating more of the currency to increase the pool of available funds. Understandably, this is intentionally a complex process in order to prevent people from flooding the market with BitCoins and devaluing it. The mining is done with a specific application that runs mathematically intensive operations that require a lot of time and computer processing resources.

      Gostev analyzed Trojan.NSIS.Miner.a, which was “spreading” among Russian users. The Trojan is a malicious module packaged with the legitimate BitCoin Miner tool. Miner.a installs itself onto the compromised machine and launches the mining tool without the user’s knowledge. After the coins are generated, the idea is to transfer the newly minted coins to the attacker’s wallet.

      “Some cyber-criminals seem to think that it’s more profitable to steal computer resources rather than e-wallets,” Gostev said.

      Because the mining was being performed across multiple IP addresses, the server hosting the attacker’s account temporarily suspended it for exhibiting botnet-like tendencies.

      Gostev called the scam the attacker’s “very own Klondike,” noting that if the account hadn’t been shut down, it could have been a lucrative operation.

      Symantec and F-Secure researchers identified a different malware, called CoinBit, targeting BitCoins only a few days earlier. The CoinBit Trojan is “not very professional-looking,” F-Secure researchers wrote on the company blog June 17. A “snatch and grab” malware, it attempts to find the wallet file on the infected computer and transfer it to a Hotmail email address using a Polish SMTP server. Having the wallet file gives the attacker full control of all the funds associated with that wallet.

      Symantec’s Stephen Doherty recommended that BitCoin users encrypt their wallets with a strong password to prevent attackers from gaining the wallet’s contents.

      Both of these Trojans were fairly rudimentary and easy to shut down, as the cyber-criminals’ information, such as email address or server address, were hard-coded in the source code. Attackers will continue totarget BitCoins so long as there’s some money associated with the system.

      The first malicious software to target BitCoin was Stealthcoin, which first emerged around April. Like the miner Trojan analyzed by Kaspersky, Stealthcoin also used a network of compromised machines to create a covert mining operation. In a separate incident, an unknown criminal allegedly transferred 25,000 BTC, worth approximately $500,000, out of an unsuspecting user’s wallet in the first theft of BitCoins this month.

      Fahmida Y. Rashid

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×