Attackers Disperse Cryptocurrency-Mining Malware via a Golang-Based Spreader

Researchers observed an attack campaign that uses a Golang-based spreader to distribute cryptocurrency-mining malware.

According to Trend Micro, the malware sought out entry points as a means of spreading to other systems by using a Golang-based spreader — detected as Trojan.Linux.GOSCAN.BB — that scanned for various server weaknesses, including a ThinkPHP exploit and Drupal exploit. It also arrived with the ability to propagate through SSH ports.

Upon reaching a targeted system, the attack campaign connected to Pastebin to download a dropper component, detected as Trojan.SH.SQUELL.CC. This element extracted a TAR file from mysqli[.]tar[.]gz that contained the Golang spreader, a cryptocurrency miner and Trojan.SH.SQUELL.CB. Once loaded, Trojan.SH.SQUELL.CB set to work disabling security tools, clearing command history and logs, and killing existing cryptocurrency mining operations in support of the campaign’s miner payload.

Tracking Golang-Based Threats in 2019

Golang-based threats have been lurking in the wild throughout the first half of 2019. In January, Malwarebytes detected a simple stealer written in Golang. Two months later, Yoroi uncovered GoBrut, a Golang-based botnet, just a few days before Anomali Labs observed the Rocke threat group using a Go-based dropper. Approximately one month later, QuickHeal Labs detected JCry, a Golang-based family of ransomware.

How to Monitor for Cryptocurrency-Mining Malware

Security professionals can help defend their organizations against cryptocurrency-mining malware by using a unified endpoint management (UEM) tool to monitor endpoints for suspicious activity, including a surge in central processing unit (CPU) usage, which is associated with most cryptominers. Robust, regularly tested incident response plans can help teams quickly minimize the threat in the event of a cryptojacking attack.

David Bisson

Contributing Editor

NIST’s role in the global tech race against AI

4 min read - Last year, the United States Secretary of Commerce announced that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been put in charge of launching a new public working group on artificial intelligence (AI) that will build on the success of the NIST AI Risk Management Framework to address this rapidly advancing technology.However, recent budget cuts at NIST, along with a lack of strategy implementation, have called into question the agency’s ability to lead this critical effort. Ultimately, the success…

Researchers develop malicious AI ‘worm’ targeting generative AI systems

2 min read - Researchers have created a new, never-seen-before kind of malware they call the "Morris II" worm, which uses popular AI services to spread itself, infect new systems and steal data. The name references the original Morris computer worm that wreaked havoc on the internet in 1988.The worm demonstrates the potential dangers of AI security threats and creates a new urgency around securing AI models.New worm utilizes adversarial self-replicating promptThe researchers from Cornell Tech, the Israel Institute of Technology and Intuit, used what’s…

Passwords, passkeys and familiarity bias

5 min read - As passkey (passwordless authentication) adoption proceeds, misconceptions abound. There appears to be a widespread impression that passkeys may be more convenient and less secure than passwords. The reality is that they are both more secure and more convenient — possibly a first in cybersecurity.Most of us could be forgiven for not realizing passwordless authentication is more secure than passwords. Thinking back to the first couple of use cases I was exposed to — a phone operating system (OS) and a…

Security Intelligence

{{title}}

{{title}}

{{title}}

Topics

Tracking Golang-Based Threats in 2019

How to Monitor for Cryptocurrency-Mining Malware

More from

NIST’s role in the global tech race against AI

Researchers develop malicious AI ‘worm’ targeting generative AI systems

Passwords, passkeys and familiarity bias

Topic updates