Gigantic Coin-Mining Attack Hit Almost One-Half Million Computers

Around 6th March, an extremely advanced fresh malware strain began hitting Windows PCs. Within a short time of 12-hrs, it tried contaminating almost one-half million computers. However, the day was saved with an improved anti-malware program from Microsoft. The company managed to turn away one massive and profusely spreading attack scheme which would have caused innumerable systems to be affected. On 8th March, Microsoft announced about its Windows Defender, which right prior to noon on March 6, aborted over 800,000 attempts of the gigantic malware assault which utilized the Dofoil Trojan, its other name Smoke Loader.

The Trojan proliferated across an enormous swath of systems prior to the anti-virus software Windows Defender of Microsoft intervened.

Microsoft's foremost observation of the infection instances was near about noon via the company's malware monitoring software. Within one blog post dated March 7, Microsoft stated that during the following twelve hours, it recorded over 400,000 infection attempts, of which 73% occurred in Russia, 18% in Turkey and 4% in Ukraine out of the total worldwide attacks. Pcmag.com posted this, March 8, 2018.

Trojan Dofoil, a crypto-mining malware is particularly dangerous. Like all other such malware programs, when it mines Monero or Bitcoin crypto-currencies, the computer's processor is too hard pressed. The malware forces the processor to do extra work to the extent that plentiful excess heat is generated. Incase this extra work is too much, the processor can potentially collapse. Such has already occurred with a few contaminated Android devices.

Nevertheless, Windows Defender was prepared for combating the situation. The anti-malware software, with its ability for spotting, examining as well as communicating with the cloud system of Redmond-based software company Microsoft, merely doesn't avert any fresh infection similar as the Dofoil on a single PC. News of the threat fast spreads to other PCs which have Defender active on computers with operating systems Windows 10, 8 or 7. Consequently, the particular attack was blocked from proliferating onto still 320,000 other PCs.

The said attack scheme mainly targets PCs installed within Ukraine, Turkey and Russia. No matter where one fresh contamination is detected, people, worldwide, using Windows Defender are currently safeguarded.

» SPAMfighter News - 3/12/2018