• 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
  • Gamble +Try
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
  • Gamble +Try
No Result
View All Result
NewsBTC
No Result
View All Result
Price & Market
Cap Data from
Nomics Logo
Home Cryptocurrency Technology

UK, Australian Government Websites Cryptojacked by Mining Malware

Martin Young by Martin Young
3 years ago
in Cryptocurrency Technology
Reading Time: 2min read
Hacked
Advertisement

Mining malware is spreading like wildfire, every week now we run another story on some platform or other falling victim to it. As cryptocurrencies become far more lucrative than ransomware or identity theft incidents of exploits will only increase. Various governmental departments in Australia and the UK were found frantically calling the tech guys over the weekend as their websites were compromised.

According to the Guardian as many as 5,000 websites were infected with a variant of the Coinhive mining malware. In the UK they included websites of National Health Services, the Student Loans Company, and several English councils in addition to the UK’s data protection watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office. They have all been taken offline to deal with the issue.

Compromised plugin

The malicious miner came from a compromised plugin called BrowseAloud which enables blind and partially sighted people read content on websites. The script had the same operation as has been seen many times before; hijacking the machine’s hardware to mine for Monero. XMR is the number one crypto currency for criminals now since it is encrypted and anonymous leaving no trace to the destination wallets.

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

Plugin authors, Texthelp, took their own website offline to patch the compromised software;

“The company has examined the affected file thoroughly and can confirm that it did not redirect any data, it simply used the computers’ CPUs to attempt to generate cryptocurrency, The exploit was active for a period of four hours on Sunday. The Browsealoud service has been temporarily taken offline and the security breach has already been addressed,” 

The security consultant who documented the attack told media;

“This type of attack isn’t new – but this is the biggest I’ve seen. A single company being hacked has meant thousands of sites impacted across the UK, Ireland and the United States. There were ways the government sites could have protected themselves from this. It may have been difficult for a small website, but I would have thought on a government website we should have expected these defence mechanisms to be in place.”

Australian government websites using the same plugin were also compromised. They included the Victoria parliament, the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, the Queensland ombudsman, the Queensland Community Legal Centre, and the Queensland legislation website.

Porn perps

According to researchers at China’s 360Netlab porn websites are responsible for the majority of mining malware on the internet.  It analyzed the relationship between domain names and prevalence of malware that hijacks computer hardware. Unsurprisingly 49% of those domain names containing the malware were porn sites.

Cyber security firm Symantec predicted that in-browser mining would turn into an “arms race” in 2018, brought about as attackers devise even more inventive and invasive ways of mining cryptocurrencies using other people’s hardware and energy.

Tags: BrowsealoudCoinhivegovernmentmalwareminingmoneroXMR
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
Martin Young

Martin Young

Martin is a Southeast Asia based info-tech, cyber security, and cryptocurrency analyst with 20 years working in web technology and media.

Related Posts

ILCoin, virtual reality

Why Virtual Reality is The Future of Entertainment

3 weeks 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

4 months ago
crypto tether usdt stablecoin

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

5 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

Oxygen Protocol to List OXY Tokens on BitMax

February 24, 2021

HOPR Hosts Global Token Launch Event on February 24th after First-Of-Its-Kind DAO Experiment

February 24, 2021

Egoras- a Decentralized Finance Ecosystem for Growing Markets!

February 23, 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
  • Gamble +

© 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.