Computers are hot all the time, and suddenly they are sluggish for no reason.  This happens to victims of Russian malware.

This Russian Malware is designed to steal the computer power exclusively.  The computing power is used to mine cryptocurrency secretly.

McAfee Labs have discovered this crypto-jacking malware.  This Russian Malware will be able to mine Monero and Zcash.

The Malware is named as the WebCobra, and it will install a different miner based on the configuration of the machine.

When the software was analyzed carefully, the researchers saw that the attackers are installing the software via a Microsoft Installer Package.  The packages have been installing Cryptonight miners on 86 systems and the Zcash miner from Claymore on 64 systems.

Of note, the Cryptonight miner is not only limited to Monero.  This miner works compatibly with any other coin that will make use of the cryptonight algorithm.  The malware is traced to have its origins in Russia.  It has currently infected computers in South Africa, Brazil, and the US.

The vectors that attack cryptocurrency are becoming complex every day. However, in the past week, researchers have identified the new tactic used by scammers to deal with the mining malware.  They use this tactic to make it appear legitimate by mimicking windows installer files.  Security experts have warned that cryptocurrency scammers are making use of newer techniques like Trojan attacks to their tools meant for the attack.  This trend according to McAfee labs, is likely to continue at least until the near future.

The value of the cryptocurrencies are increasing, and this has, in turn, motivated the cybercriminals to make use of a malware which will steal the machine resources to mine the crypto coins without the consent of the victim.

CoinHive is yet another Monero miner that is often used by hackers.  This generates $250,000 profits each month.

The Coin mining malware is only set to evolve as cybercriminals will continue to take advantage of this easy path to stealing the value of the investors.  This is also a less expensive method to mine cryptocurrency.   The investment risk is less than ransomware.  The returns do not depend upon the percentage of the victims who will be agreeing to send money.  This malware logs in to any vulnerable computer and starts mining the cryptocurrency.

The catch in the whole process is that the hackers get electricity and the hardware for free.  They can hack computers from any part of the world. Therefore, they mine internationally without too much spent on the network.