Bitcoin Mining Malware Spreading on Skype

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Bitcoin owners: Keep a sharp eye out for spam that could contain Bitcoin miners on Skype. Kaspersky Lab has issued a warning of malware spread by spam that contains code to download additional malware capable of Bitcoin mining.

According to Bestuzhev, the average click rate for the rogue URL is high, at over 2,000 clicks per hour. "Most of potential victims live in Italy then Russia, Poland, Costa Rica, Spain, Germany, Ukraine and others."
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Article said:
A new spam campaign spotted Thursday on Skype tricks users into visiting a rogue URL by using messages like "this is my favorite picture of you" as bait, Dmitry Bestuzhev, a malware researcher at Kaspersky Lab, said in a blog post.

Visiting the rogue URL prompts users to download a file called skype-img-04_04-2013.exe that's a malware installer with a low antivirus detection rate, he said.
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Anyone who is stupid enough to open an executable instead of a picture format deserves to have their computer hacked.
 
SolidBladez said:
Anyone who is stupid enough to open an executable instead of a picture format deserves to have their computer hacked.
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I wouldn't say that they deserve to be hacked. A lot of people, even smart people, don't know.
 
I've been sitting on 213 bitcoins since the end of 2011, wonder what the real cash in my pocket value of them actually is
 
octoberasian said:
If the price of bitcoins went up a bit more, he could technically afford this... cash payment in full:

http://www.bmwusa.com/standard/content/vehicles/2013/1/128icoupe/default.aspx

BMW 128i coupe, base configuration. (If he doesn't fancy BMWs, could find another car that fits withing $30,000 cash. :p)
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I sold about 332 bitcoins for $21 each around January/February. If I'd known that the price to sky rocket to $145, then I could use that extra $41k to get my basement finished or my backyard remodeled.

:eek:
 
kscott190 said:
Can someone actually be considered smart if they're clicking on things not knowing what it is?
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Depends on your definition of smart, but I'd argue that being uninformed doesn't necessarily equal stupid. Some people didn't grow up on the internet streets :D
 
SixFootDuo said:
I've been sitting on 213 bitcoins since the end of 2011, wonder what the real cash in my pocket value of them actually is
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The interesting thing about Bitcoins is that they are the only currency not backed by a government, so you can't automatically trade them in for cash - they are valued at whatever value the individual who wants to buy them from you sets. Of course there are indexes of estimated value, but like I said, since they are not government backed, you have to find a private party or business to liquidate. And then the value becomes somewhat subjective, no? Fascinating stuff.

Meanwhile, these hackers are pretty smart to use Skype - they understand that most Skype users generally have broadband connections, so that is ideal for bot mining.
 
dgz said:
Depends on your definition of smart, but I'd argue that being uninformed doesn't necessarily equal stupid. Some people didn't grow up on the internet streets :D
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But should that be an excuse to not be cautious?
If someone hasn't heard about viruses and anti-virus by now do they really need to have a computer?
 
I stopped mining right around the market hack-crash in Summer of 2011 and had all 50BTC just sitting in my mtgox account. When the "market" recovered to the previous record high of about ~$31 per I sold and was happy to get my money. This big boost came about because of all the fun in Cyprus. It will be neat to watch if the U.S. or the E.U. goes out of its way to re-crash the market. Another point of interest will be watching all the U.S. miners and traders liquidate and launder as the Fed and the IRS are both now sending out notices and policy decisions regarding this crypto-currency.

For everybody who got out before this new price surge, it's not worth screaming and gnashing teeth over could'a, would'a, should'a: like spending a few grand to have bought BTC when the post hack-crash market was stuck around ~$2-4 for a long while. Even worse, think of all those early miners who did things like cash out by trading a few hundred or thousand BTC to each other for as little as a delivered pizza.
 
yeah.....things are certainly getting more secure....
 
DF-1 said:
I wouldn't say that they deserve to be hacked. A lot of people, even smart people, don't know.
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not only that, but if you have file extensions 'hidden' then you're possibly SOL. I turn them on anyway for different reasons but considering MS hides them by default, this doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility for a techie even if their not paying attention.
 
At least it's not a drive-by install. When I got hit with one of those a few months back it also tried to install a miner.
 
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