Security researchers have discovered a new virus that is so advanced that it can decide if your computer is powerful and vulnerable enough to mining or ransomware. This new age variant of Rakhni ransomware infects computer systems by infiltrating the network, which it then evaluates the computer configurations to see if ransomware or crypto-mining is more profitable for the hacker.
As we’ve mentioned in the past, crypto-mining has recently become the most popular style cyber attack in 2018, but ransomware is still a likely attack as it can be incredibly profitable for cybercriminals. The difference between the two is:
Ransomware attacks typically lock computers for a “ransom” but doesn’t always guarantee a paycheck as some victims aren’t willing to negotiate with cyber criminals. On the other hand, hackers who access a business server, can utilize the networks CPU’s in order to mine the digital currency. Depending on the window of time and the value of the cryptocurrency, hackers can make a significant profit, especially if the business is unaware that their network is being exposed.
According to Kaspersky Labs, this new found malware is a variant of Rakhni ransomware, which has been upgraded to include cryptocurrency mining capability, which has provided cybercriminals the option of attack. The Rakhni malware is being spread using spear-phishing emails with an MS word file in the attachment, which if opened, prompts the victim to save the document and enable editing.
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