Recently the Monero (XMR) team announced the opening of a new website that purposes to instruct users on cleaning up crypto-jacking malware and ransomware. The comfort of mining and privacy of Monero are exceptional features for the coin. However, the features attract bad actors who use the coin in malware.
According to Justin Ehrenhofer, the director of the Malware Response Workgroup, major 2 factors make XMR attractive to hackers. The ability to use cryptocurrency in malware is not exclusive to Monero. Bitcoin and other digital currencies have been used in the same attacks, but XMR has confidentiality features that make it stand out. The new Malware Response website pursues to notify visitors on the methods to stop and remove malware. It is even expected that users will feel frustrated when they visit the website and seeking answers since most will not know what is happening.
In addition to noticing if XMR-based malware is running on your computer, the site includes preparations for the three types of attacks that are used: browser-based mining scripts, system/PC based malware, and ransomware. Scripts to mine Monero in the browser are infrequently organized as an opt-in service as a technique for visitors to fund websites. Crypto mining as a choice for visitors as compared to the advertisements. If readers opted-in, their browsers would mine XMR with their computers’ resources while they browsed the site.
However, attackers can also introduce mining scripts into susceptible websites without the webmaster or visitors knowing, which is known as “cryptojacking. McAfee labs reported that cryptojacking increased by 86 percent in the second quarter of 2018. Additionally, for 2018 so far, prohibited cryptojacking is up a shocking 459%, due to largely to the leaks from the NSA’s hacking tools. Offenders then used these tools to infect computers with malware.
As the NSA (and Microsoft) have already admitted blame for the mistake, one would think they would be the entities creating an educational site like Monero’s.
Monero Community Is Completely Against Malware
As cryptojacking attacks are different from webmasters/internet users and sometimes cultured, education is a key role in rapidly learning and responding to security breaches.
The Monero technology and community do not overlook any hateful activities that Monero is used in. Monero itself and the community aren’t attacking computers, but the computers are attacked with some susceptibility and the attacker chooses to run mining software on the cooperated machines.
