Dell SecureWorks says that Unknown Hackers Mined 500 Million Dogecoins

Coindesk.com reported on 17th June, 2014 quoting SecureWorks, a subsidiary of personal computing giant Dell for information services, as saying "an anonymous hacker has acquired approximately 500 million Dogecoins worth almost $200,000 at present price by hacking a string of data storage centers of computer networks.

Two researchers of SecureWorks, Pat Litke and David Shear, have discovered a set of malware-tainted storage devices of an unknown cybercriminal who has collected more than $620,000 (365,000 Pound) worth of currency from those hijacked systems and others. Wired.co.uk reported on 18th June, 2014 quoting those two researchers as saying "the amount collected mainly in two months early this year, might be the biggest accumulation of crypto currency ever excavated from innocent users of computers."

Litke and Shear have spent a large amount of time following findings of security flaws in storage hardware by Taiwanese firm Synology. Security Researcher Andrea Fabrizi discovered flaws in the operating systems during September 2013 which would permit a remote hacker to gain access in the systems and install malware.

Synology users started complaining in February 2014 that their machines were working slowly and one of them posted on Facebook saying that he had discovered a folder labeled "PWNED" on his machine.

The researchers found a program known as CPUminer in sample files shared on net by maligned users which has been employed in mining cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin that had been compiled for Synology devices. CPUminer is a legitimate miner but hackers have co-opted it several times in illegal mining operations.

The researchers could not identify the hacker but could calculate the operator's earnings after acquiring the Dogecoin wallet and discovered that they have run other mining operations before.

The Dogecoin mining campaign showcases one of the many innovative approaches to generate digital currency through falsified ways. Other recent endeavors reveal criminals adopting exceptional ways to upload software to excavate bitcoin but in almost all cases, the program was crafted to mask itself and its functions.

In May 2014, unidentified hackers tried to dispense bitcoin mining malware via a tailored torrent file of the video game Watch Dogs and this attack was important as it became another type of Internet piracy.

» SPAMfighter News - 6/25/2014