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Somewhere out there a cyber criminal is lining his pockets with cryptocurrency. he is not using powerful computers to do the mining, but this individual is using an ever-growing army of subservient routers to do the dirty work.
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Trustwave researchers have found a new strain of malware for a particular brand of routers, MicroTik devices have been targeted and up to now more than 200,000 have been infected.
Most infections are concentrated in Brazil, but Trustwave observed devices also in other regions.
Maybe you're wondering how it's possible for a router to do it, it's not like they advertise that kind of functionality on the package. processor inside a router is very similar to that of your smartphone or tablet. It's less powerful, but still can do much more than connect to the Internet and manage wireless connections.
Cryptomining malware may not seem like a big deal. There is no need to steal passwords or credit card numbers and, ultimately, does not encrypt files and requires a ransom. However it can cause many problems.
Cryptocurrency mining can load a very heavy workload on a processor. Heavy workloads mean that processors produce a lot of heat. If the heat does not dissipate, it can seriously affect the performance of the device. In extreme cases, it can cause a device to malfunction … sometimes spectacularly.
Some smartphones that have been infected with cryptographic malware have actually overheated enough to merge. This is a big problem in a portable device that contains a volatile lithium-ion battery, but that kind of extreme heat is still a serious problem with a router or a broadband modem.
If you have a Microtik router, you can protect from this exploit – and other similar ones – from which installs the latest firmware . Trustwave notes that MicroTik has released a patch to block this particular attack until April.
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Somewhere a cyber criminal is lining his pockets with cryptocurrency, but this individual is using an ever-growing army of slave routers to do the dirty work.
Trustwave researchers They found a new strain of malware targeting a particular brand of routers, and MicroTik has been targeted and up to now more than 200,000 have been infected.
Most infections are concentrated in Brazil, but Trustwave also observed compromised devices in other regions.
Maybe you're wondering how it's possible for a router to do it – it's not like they advertise that kind of functionality on the package – the fact is that there's a processor inside a router that is very similar to your smartphone or tablet.It's less powerful, but it can do much more than connect to the Internet and manage wireless connections.
malware encryption may not seem like a big deal. There is no need to steal passwords or credit card numbers and, ultimately, does not encrypt files and requires a ransom. However it can cause many problems.
Cryptocurrency mining can load a very heavy workload on a processor. Heavy workloads mean that processors produce a lot of heat. If the heat does not dissipate, it can seriously affect the performance of the device. In extreme cases, it can cause a device to malfunction … sometimes spectacularly.
Some smartphones that have been infected with cryptographic malware have actually overheated enough to merge. This is a big problem in a portable device that contains a volatile lithium-ion battery, but that kind of extreme heat is still a serious problem with a router or a broadband modem.
If you have a Microtik router, you can protect against this exploit – and others like it – by installing the latest firmware. Trustwave notes that MicroTik has released a patch to block this particular attack until April.
