Researchers discovered that the Monero-mining malware Crackonosh has infected 222K computers

• Crackonosh, a type of malware, has been discovered on 222,000 compromised computers
• The virus has been circulating since at least June of this year
• Because it had built-in mechanisms to disable security software and updates, Crackonosh was able to operate for years

According to a report released on Thursday by security firm Avast, the virus has generated over $2 million in XMR for its creators. According to a report released Thursday by security firm Avast, Crackonosh malware was discovered in 222,000 compromised computers that were used to download illegal, torrented versions of popular video games such as NBA 2K19 and Grand Theft Auto V.

The coin used by cybercriminals

The virus, which has been circulating since at least June 2018, installs crypto-mining software that has generated over $2 million in monero for its authors. Monero is a privacy coin that is frequently used by cybercriminals due to its difficulty in being traced compared to other cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. Crypto-mining attacks centered on Monero are fairly common: In 2018, The Pirate Bay, a website where users can download movies, music, software, and games, announced that it would be cryptojacking visitors’ processing power to mine for monero, and in 2020, a botnet known as Vollgar was discovered mining for monero on Microsoft’s SQL servers.

Crackonosh was able to operate for years, according to Avast’s analysis, because it had built-in mechanisms to disable security software and updates, making it difficult for users to detect and remove the program.

Malware’s Beginnings

Although the malware is thought to have originated in the Czech Republic, it has spread throughout the world. The number of cases in the United States is only 5% of the total. The malware’s spread is addressed in Avast’s blog post, which also instructs affected users on how to uninstall the program.

Daniel Benes, the blog’s author, also offers some advice: The main takeaway here is that you can’t get something for nothing, and if you try to steal software, chances are someone else is also trying to steal from you.

The new get rich quick scheme is crypto-jacking

The Crackonosh malware is one of a growing number of cryptojacking schemes that have been discovered on the internet in the last year, according to security experts.

Kaspersky, a cybersecurity and antivirus software provider, warned earlier this month that cryptojacking scams were on the rise. Between January and March of 2021, the company saw over 432,171 encounters with such malware, according to the company. And in the month of March alone, there were 200,045 encounters.

In March, CISCO malware researchers discovered similar malware embedded in gaming cheat software. Cryptojacking malware accounted for 41% of all malware last year, according to NTT, a Japanese tech services provider, even before the boom of 2021.

Such scams are difficult to detect because they operate in the background. Slow or sluggish performance, component wear, and higher electricity bills — especially for those who use external graphics chips — could all be signs that your PC has been infected.