Bitcoin mining botnets infect thousands of PCs: kaspersky

The Kaspersky Lab Anti-Malware Research team has identified two botnets made of computers infected with malware that silently install cryptocurrency miners, which are legitimate software used to create (mine) virtual currencies based on blockchain technology.

The Kaspersky Lab Anti-Malware Research team has identified two botnets made of computers infected with malware that silently install cryptocurrency miners, which are legitimate software used to create (mine) virtual currencies based on blockchain technology.

In one instance, researchers estimated that a 4,000-machine network could bring its owners up to US$30,000 a month, and in another instance witnessed criminals jackpotting more than $200,000 from a 5,000-PC botnet.

To prevent computers from turning into a cryptocurrency harvesting zombie, Kaspersky Lab researchers advise users not to install suspicious software from untrusted sources, enable the adware detection feature, and use a proven internet security solution.

"If customers are running a server, they should make sure it is protected with a security solution since servers are lucrative targets for criminals thanks to their high computing performance", they said. — VNS