South Korean police agency’s cyber bureau revealed that four hackers had been charged and although not detained will face a court trial to defend being accused of planting viruses in mining systems.
The agency believes that the hackers sent viruses through job application emails. It also stated that this virus had infected more than six thousand computers over the last two months. Even though the jacking lasted for quite some time, the hackers were only able to mine around $900 worth of currency.
It was later revealed that the hackers were mining crypto-currency called Monero, the currency is quite famous for being used in shady businesses, criminals and hackers alike. Since XMR is mined through a web browser, the crypto-currency is easier to hack compared to other crypto-currencies.
A report released earlier this year revealed that almost 5% of Monero was mined through crypto-jacking. However, people believe that this number is an understatement and only considered it to be an estimated number.
This was the country’s first ever case that involved crypto-currencies. It was good to see that the authorities reacted immediately to the problem and most of these viruses were detected within days. However, the hackers’ emails looked like real resumes, so the human resource network is most likely to be compromised.
South Korea ranks very low in countries that have also fallen victim to such crimes. In July China recorded a case that involved around one million mining units and the hackers made around $2 million through crypto-jacking.
As these incidents continue to surface from time to time, it is important to always keep a lookout so that one may be able to safeguard himself and those around them safe.
What is Crypto-jacking?
It is the process of mining crypto-currencies using systems without the permission or knowledge of the owner.
