New Crypto Mining Malware Targets Enterprise Accounts

Cybercriminals are now targeting enterprise computers aside from the usual consumer CPUs. According to Kaspersky Lab, this crypto jacking malware is now attacking corporations in different countries.

According to the cybersecurity firm, a fileless malware called PowerGhost is infecting corporate computers in India, Brazil, Colombia, and Turkey. This fileless malware uses the system’s native processes, making it hard to detect by conventional anti-viruses. It then hijacks the computer and mines an undisclosed cryptocurrency.

The malware “is capable of stealthily establishing itself in a system and spreading across large corporate networks infecting both workstations and servers,” as reported by Kaspersky.

“PowerGhost raises new concerns about crypto-mining software. The miner we examined indicates that targeting consumers is not enough for cybercriminals anymore – threat actors are now turning their attention to enterprises too. Crypto-currency mining is set to become a huge threat to the business community,” – Mr. David Emm, Principal Security Researcher, Kaspersky Lab

Aside from PowerGhost, more crypto-mining malware programs are getting created every day. This is why Google and Apple already banned crypto-mining applications in both of its platforms. This is to clamp down hackers who are hijacking a user’s device without permission.

Read more: Google Joins Apple in Banning Crypto Mining Apps

The report also said that the popularity and the increasing price of cryptocurrency also urge cybercriminals to get creative in terms of mining techniques. These illegal miners are said to be replacing ransomware Trojans.

During the second week of July 2018, League of Legends PH client was inserted with a malicious javascript from Coinhive that mines Monero. Garena was able to remove the script after two days and apologized for the incident.