A Taiwanese computer hardware company has warned its customers about a targeted crypto mining attack facing their storage devices. The malware contaminates NAS devices connected to the Internet by installing a crypto-miner named Dovecat.
Threat Actors Install Malware That Illicitly Mines Bitcoin
Per the advisory revealed by Bleeping Computer, the malware mines Bitcoin (BTC) on NAS devices without alerting its operators. The company emphasizes the findings:
QNAP NAS can become infected when they are connected to the Internet with weak user passwords.
The malware campaign launched by unknown threat actors has been surfacing over the last three months. Some customers report that the bitcoin miner uses all the device’s CPU and memory resources, rendering it almost unusable.
Per a knowledge base article, Qnap says that unless the Dovecat process encounters a recent firmware (4.4.x), the system could have been compromised by the miner.
The company recommends updating all NAS devices to the latest software, installing the company’s malware detection applications, and using stronger passwords. Several users have been testing the solutions provided by Qnap, claiming success when applying them.
Qnap is a renowned company in the file storage industry. Their devices are manufactured with technology that can handle come crypto mining processes, making them a target for hackers.
Last September 2020, the Taiwanese firm warned its clients about the Agelocker ransomware campaign toward their publicly exposed NAS devices.
Latest Figures on Cryptojacking Incidents
The newest statistics revealed by Symantec unveiled an increasing trend in cryptojacking incidents. As cited in the study, the second quarter of 2020 witnessed a resurgence of attacks, rising 163% compared to the past quarter’s activity.
The cybersecurity lab also proves what most malware researchers conclude about cryptojacking: bitcoin and Monero (XMR) are the two currencies most often mined during these attacks.
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