During the past several months, in-browser mining has continued to affect a large number of websites, predominantly relying on Coinhive’s infamous API. We documented several campaigns on this blog, in particular Drupalgeddon, where attackers are taking advantage of vulnerabilities in popular Content Management Systems (CMS) to compromise websites and push payloads both client- and … [Read more...]
July 3, 2018
May 21, 2018
A week in security (May 14 – May 20)
Last week, we looked at the deluge of incoming policies caused by GDPR, tackled Adobe Reader zero days, and ran through some iPhone security tips. We also caught some helpline scammers in the act, explored advergaming, got our Senate Bill game face on, and deep dived into Drupal vulnerabilities. Other news Mining apps in Snaps store controversy (Source: The Register) Man identified in spy tools … [Read more...]
April 30, 2018
A week in security (April 23 – April 29)
Last week, we dug into behavioral biometrics, explored a new crossrider variant, and embraced the power of “no.” We also launched another CrackMe challenge, took a deep dive into smart toys, and finished up with a look at digital privacy in the age of IoT. Other news LinkedIn does battle with autofill problems. (source: Daily Swig) Dutch police take down a revenge porn site. (source: … [Read more...]
February 23, 2018
Deepfakes FakeApp tool (briefly) includes cryptominer
A few weeks ago, we took a look at a forum dedicated to Deepfake clips where the site was pushing Coinhive mining scripts in the website’s HTML code. As it turns out, there’s been another mining blow-out in the form of one of the apps used to make the fakes. That’s right—a tool designed to push CPU/GPU hard in order to create movie files also wanted you to push the GPU that much … [Read more...]
February 8, 2018
New Deepfakes forum goes mining with Coinhive
You may or may be familiar with the furore over Deepfakes, a relatively new development in pornography involving a tool called FacesApp, which is capable of producing a real porn clip that replaces the original actors’ heads with those of celebrities—or indeed, anyone at all. Online fakes have been around since the early 2000s or possibly even earlier; alongside those old photos, fakers … [Read more...]
February 2, 2018
Ransomware’s difficult second album
The last year has seen all manner of cybercrime, from scams and social engineering to malvertising and malspam. What’s interesting is that so many “next-gen,” sophisticated malware mainstays like exploits have dropped in popularity, while other more traditional types such as spyware have shot up dramatically —to the tune of an 882 percent increase in UK detections. Meanwhile, … [Read more...]
December 13, 2017
December 11, 2017
How cryptocurrency mining works: Bitcoin vs. Monero
Ever wondered why websites that are mining in the background don’t mine for the immensely hot Bitcoin, but for Monero instead? We can explain that. As there are different types of cryptocurrencies, there are also different types of mining. After providing you with some background information about blockchain [1],[2] and cryptocurrency, we’ll explain how the mining aspect of Bitcoin works. And how … [Read more...]
