Google Moved to Shut Down a Cryptojacking Botnet That Infected $1M Machines

December 8, 2021

Interchain

 

Google on Tuesday dropped to close down a sophisticated cryptojacking botnet that utilized the Bitcoin blockchain to evade cybersecurity officials.

 

Botnet Infected More than $1M PCs Globally

Known as Glupteba, the botnet has infected more than 1 million machines around the world, Google said in a civil complaint recorded Tuesday against Dmitry Staroviko and Alexander Filippov, as well as 15 unknown individuals. Google alleged the defendants used this botnet to mine cryptographic forms of money on victims’ PCs, steal victims’ account information to offer to third parties, purchase goods and services utilizing credit cards with insufficient funds, and offer access to compromised machines to third parties.

Also, Google executives wrote in a blog post, the botnet itself leveraged blockchain innovation in a unique manner as work to secure it against traditional tools meant to disrupt these kinds of malicious activities. It successfully transformed bitcoin’s decentralization into an asset that made it a lot harder to close down.

Botnet Used the Bitcoin’s Blockchain for Evading Cybersecurity

The botnet weaponized bitcoin’s blockchain, according to Chainalysis, which said it helped Google’s investigation. By inserting command-and-control server addresses in the blockchain, and then, at that point, having the botnet go to that data at whatever point an infected server was covered, it stays a stride ahead of the cybersecurity whack-a-mole.

Google’s complaint meticulously described the situation, saying that the Glupteba Enterprise, the substance controlled by the defendants, would utilize this strategy to coordinate the malware to new servers. The Glupteba botnet cannot be eradicated altogether without neutralizing its blockchain-based infrastructure, the complaint said. Google documented fraud and racketeering allegations against the defendants in its suit. Google said that while it has already taken some action to disrupt the botnet, the fact that it utilizes the Bitcoin blockchain means the operators can resurrect the network at any time.

 

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