• Advertise
  • Submit a Press Release
NewsBTC
Bitcoin & cryptocurrency news today, price & technical analysis
Price & Market
Cap Data from
Nomics Logo
  • News
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Cardano
    • Tezos
    • EOS
    • Chainlink
    • Sponsored
    • Press Releases
  • Analysis
    • Bitcoin (BTC)
    • Ethereum (ETH)
    • Cardano (ADA)
    • Chainlink (LINK)
    • Litecoin (LTC)
    • Tezos (XTZ)
    • Zcash (ZEC)
    • EOS
    • YearnFinance (YFI)
  • Education
    • Accepting Bitcoin payments
    • Using Bitcoin
    • What is Bitcoin Mining
    • How to Trade Bitcoin
    • How to Buy Bitcoin
    • Digital Currency Exchange
    • Proof of Existence
    • Is Bitcoin legal?
    • Bitcoin Books
  • Trading Course
  • Directory
    • Crypto Businesses
    • Bitcoin Brokers
    • Casinos
    • Sportsbooks
  • TradeeToro
  • Buy SilverTry
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Cardano
    • Tezos
    • EOS
    • Chainlink
    • Sponsored
    • Press Releases
  • Analysis
    • Bitcoin (BTC)
    • Ethereum (ETH)
    • Cardano (ADA)
    • Chainlink (LINK)
    • Litecoin (LTC)
    • Tezos (XTZ)
    • Zcash (ZEC)
    • EOS
    • YearnFinance (YFI)
  • Education
    • Accepting Bitcoin payments
    • Using Bitcoin
    • What is Bitcoin Mining
    • How to Trade Bitcoin
    • How to Buy Bitcoin
    • Digital Currency Exchange
    • Proof of Existence
    • Is Bitcoin legal?
    • Bitcoin Books
  • Trading Course
  • Directory
    • Crypto Businesses
    • Bitcoin Brokers
    • Casinos
    • Sportsbooks
  • TradeeToro
  • Buy SilverTry
No Result
View All Result
NewsBTC
No Result
View All Result
Price & Market
Cap Data from
Nomics Logo
Home Cryptocurrency Technology

New Mac Malware Monero Miner Discovered

newsbtc by newsbtc
3 years ago
in Cryptocurrency Technology
Reading Time: 2min read
NewsBTC Coincheck hack Unpunished
Advertisement

Crypto mining is on the rise as bad actors have discovered decentralized mining is a lot cheaper than setting up a rig and paying the electricity bills to compete with massive mining pools and Apple users are not immune from being crypto jacked.

Mac Cryptominer uses Legitimet Software

In an earlier story this year NewsBTC reported that crypto jacking or drive by mining was up by 4000% in the first quarter of 2018 and now Mac owners are reporting a piece of malware called “mshelper” sucking up their CPU time and overheating their cooling fans. Luckily the “mshelper” process as reported by Malwarebytes Labs isn’t very sophisticated and is relatively easy to remove.

Not surprisingly the newly discovered malware is mining for Monero, as it has become the favorite cryptocurrency for hackers mostly due to its high level of anonymity. Sandiford Oliver, Cybersecurity Researcher for Proofpoint, talked about Monero being the first choice for botnets mining crypto and expects it to continue to rise as the token price goes up.

5 BTC + 300 Free Spins for new players & 15 BTC + 35.000 Free Spins every month, only at mBitcasino. Play Now!

The “mshelper” malware was brought to public knowledge by users posting on Apple’s discussion forums. As more Mac users chimed in it was found that other suspicious processes were installed as well.

Malwarebytes Labs broke the process down to its components. They identified the dropper or the program which installed the malware, as probably being a fake Adobe Flashplayer install file. Droppers they explained usually come from pirated copies of popular file downloads.

The launcher they found to be a file called ‘pplauncher’ which is kept active by a launch daemon meaning that the dropped had access to root privileges.

Finally the miner which is the aforementioned “mshelper” which has been recognized as an older version of the legitimate XMRig miner which is available for install on Macs.

Cryptomining isn’t limited to PCs

Though crypto mining through malware is often thought of as being a PC problem the fact that there is money to be made stealing computing power makes it a problem for every online device. Android miners and malware designed to infect Internet of Things means that soon nearly every appliance could be a target for drive by miners. The problem goes beyond cyber criminals as even internet service providers have been found out infecting customers with mining malware.

Mac cryptomining malware has been on the rise with every other type and this latest infection follows many other previously recognized crypto-miners for the MacOS. As for the “mshelper” malware it’s not considered particularly dangerous as it is actually a legitimate piece of software, still it should be removed. Malwarebytes Labs provides a link to remove it here.

 

Image from Shutterstock
Tags: cryptominingMacmalwaremalwarebytesmoneroXMRXMRig
TweetShare
Nexo Logo
BitStarz Player Lands $2,459,124 Record Win! Could you be next big winner? Win up to $1,000,000 in One Spin at CryptoSlots
newsbtc

newsbtc

Related Posts

ILCoin, virtual reality

Why Virtual Reality is The Future of Entertainment

1 month ago
Contested Election Results Force Discussion of Blockchain Based Voting System

Contested Election Results Force Discussion of Blockchain Based Voting System

4 months ago
jax network

Jax.Network Addresses Crypto Scalability Issues, to Create A Decentralized Consumer Payment System

5 months ago
crypto tether usdt stablecoin

No, Another $1 Billion In Tether (USDT) Wasn’t Added To The Crypto Market Cap

6 months ago
crypto

South Korean Crypto Platform ICON Launches Decentralized Passport Service

2 years ago
Swiss Luxury Hotel Accepts Bitcoin Showing Increase in Adoption, CEO Explains Motive

Swiss Luxury Hotel Accepts Bitcoin Showing Increase in Adoption, CEO Explains Motive

2 years ago

Premium Partners

Top Brokers

eToro

eToro

Review · Visit
Evolve Markets

Evolve Markets

Review · Visit
ArbiSmart

ArbiSmart

Review · Visit
PrimeXBT

PrimeXBT

Review · Visit
Moneta Markets

Moneta Markets

Review · Visit

Top Casinos

BitStarz

BitStarz

Review · Visit
mBit

mBit

Review · Visit
CryptoGames

CryptoGames

Review · Visit
Bonusfinder DE

Bonusfinder DE

Review · Visit
Bspin

Bspin

Review · Visit
Wolf Bet

Wolf Bet

Review · Visit

Top Sportsbooks

1xBit

1xBit

Review · Visit

Press Releases

Stobox Allows Common Investors to Participate in a Lucrative Private Round With Its $1 Million Security Token Offering

March 5, 2021

IOST, Polkadot Join Forces to Build Cross-Chain Transfer Bridge

March 5, 2021

Bittrex Global Exchange to List Ndau for Long-term Holders

March 4, 2021

Newsletter Signup


ABOUT US

NewsBTC is a cryptocurrency news service that covers bitcoin news today, technical analysis & forecasts for bitcoin price and other altcoins. Here at NewsBTC, we are dedicated to enlightening everyone about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

We cover BTC news related to bitcoin exchanges, bitcoin mining and price forecasts for various cryptocurrencies.

COMPANY

  • Advertising
  • Comments Policy
  • Privacy Center
  • Sitemap
  • About Us
  • Contact

Technical Analysis

  • Bitcoin (BTC)
  • Ethereum (ETH)
  • Ripple (XRP)
  • Chainlink (LINK)
  • Cardano (ADA)
  • Tezos (XTZ)

LINKS

Auto Trading Software ▸

Cryptocurrency news

  • Bitcoin
  • Ethereum
  • Ripple
  • Chainlink
  • Cardano
  • EOS
  • Tezos

© 2020 NewsBTC. All Rights Reserved.

  • News
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Cardano
    • Tezos
    • EOS
    • Chainlink
    • Sponsored
    • Press Releases
  • Analysis
    • Bitcoin (BTC)
    • Ethereum (ETH)
    • Cardano (ADA)
    • Chainlink (LINK)
    • Litecoin (LTC)
    • Tezos (XTZ)
    • Zcash (ZEC)
    • EOS
    • YearnFinance (YFI)
  • Education
    • Accepting Bitcoin payments
    • Using Bitcoin
    • What is Bitcoin Mining
    • How to Trade Bitcoin
    • How to Buy Bitcoin
    • Digital Currency Exchange
    • Proof of Existence
    • Is Bitcoin legal?
    • Bitcoin Books
  • Trading Course
  • Directory
    • Crypto Businesses
    • Bitcoin Brokers
    • Casinos
    • Sportsbooks
  • Trade
  • Buy Silver

© 2020 NewsBTC. All Rights Reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy Center or Cookie Policy.