WannaCry is asking for money, this malware is mining it
Just when the world is waking up to the onslaught of WannaCry and its capacity for chaos, there is news surfacing of another global attack, which proves that we are still grasping straws when it comes to protecting ourselves from cybercrimes. Adylkuzz Cryptocurrency Mining Malware, which is a computer virus with same modus operandi as WannaCry, has now been discovered. Here's all about it.
It was here before WannaCry
It's to be noted that the newly discovered virus was present before WannaCry and is still going strong; it went unnoticed until now because it didn't demand any money like WannaCry did. Under this virus, the user typically faces a loss of access to Windows services and a severe degradation occurs in the performance of the computer and server, once they are infected.
One malware negates other
Researchers at Proofpoint discovered that this large-scale attack utilized methods, associated with WannaCry ransomware to infect computers that have not updated the software patch provided by Windows and installed the cryptocurrency miner AdylKuzz. Since this malware shuts down the Microsoft Server Message Block (SMB) networking, it may have limited the spread of WannaCry infection by creeping into the computers, according to the researchers.
WannaCry outrage revealed its presence
Several organizations, which reported that they had been attacked by WannaCry, were actually infected with Adylkuzz Cryptocurrency Mining Malware, according to Proofpoint research team. Proofpoint stumbled upon this discovery while researching a lab machine that had been under attack, while they expected to find WannaCry, they actually found that it was Adylkuzz that had infected the machine; after repeated checks, they were sure.
Making money at users' expense
The malware attack was being used to mine Monero cryptocurrency, which is similar to the cryptocurrency that is being demanded by WannaCry but only with a more enhanced feature to maintain the anonymity of the transactions. Like any other cryptocurrency, this too increases its market capitalization with computationally intensive mining process. The current rate for 7.58 Moneros is roughly $205 or INR 13192.78.
Internet awareness is now a necessity
WannaCry, Adylkuzz cryptocurrency Mining Malware - these are relatively new terms for a regular Joe, who is using a computer but we have to understand that, as technology is progressing so are the threats. It is paramount to stay informed about threats that lurk in the big bad world of Internet because today it is someone else, tomorrow it can be anyone of us.
