New cryptojacking virus is targeting players through games such as GTA V

 

Crowdsourcing crypto mining activities is a frequent usage of crypto mining malware.

Crypto mining software, which uses a computer's resources to secretly mine bitcoin, has grown in popularity in the last year, and hackers are now targeting gamers. According to an Avast research, hackers are concealing malware in popular titles such as Grand Theft Auto V, NBA 2K19, and Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 in order to infect devices. The virus in issue, known as Crackonosh, appears to be of Czech origin, and the researchers claim that the hackers have generated more than $2 million by infecting machines thus far.

The malware had also been discovered on devices in a dozen nations, according to the experts. They discovered 13,779 cases in India, 16,584 cases in Brazil, 11,856 cases in the United States (US), 8,946 cases in the United Kingdom (UK), 18,448 cases in the Philippines, and 12,727 cases in Poland. To avoid discovery, the malware disables Windows updates and uninstalls protection applications installed on machines.

Crowdsourcing crypto mining activities is a frequent usage of crypto mining malware. As previously reported, occurrences of such malware have been increasing over the last year, coinciding with a rise in the cryptocurrency sector. Kaspersky Lab reported earlier this month that it had detected over 200,000 cases of such malware in the first quarter of 2021 alone.

“It is too early to predict if the trend we observed in Q1 2021 will continue. However, it appears that the rise in the value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has rekindled interest in miners "Evgeny Lopatin, a security expert at Kaspersky, agreed. “If the crypto markets remain strong this year, it is likely that we will continue to witness more instances of users coming into contact with miners.” "He continued.

NTT, a Japanese technology services provider, stated in its Global Threat Intelligence Report for 2021 that cryptojacking techniques like this accounted for 41 percent of all discovered malware in 2020. Gamers use some of the most powerful PCs available today, making them ideal candidates for crypto mining, which is based on computational power.

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