Ransom Where? Malicious Cryptocurrency Miners Takeover, Generating Millions
Summary: Cisco Talos reports a marked increase in cryptocurrency mining software being maliciously delivered to victims, with attackers shifting from ransomware to mining because it captures the financial upside without engaging the victim or drawing law enforcement attention. Talos calculates an average system generates about $0.25 of Monero per day, so 2,000 victims yield roughly $500 daily or $182,500 per year, and botnets of millions of infected systems could theoretically generate more than $100 million annually.
What's compelling: Talos observed botnets of millions of infected systems, and at roughly $0.25 of Monero per system per day, that scale translates to more than $100 million a year - revenue that keeps flowing with minimal effort and little chance of detection until the miner is removed.
Read the original at Cisco Talos ↗
- Topics
- Cybercrime & Law Enforcement
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