Crypto Mining Botnet Uses Taylor Swift's Image to Dump Malware

MyKinz Botnet Operators have made millions through mining malware infection

Crypto mining botnet which is known by different names such as MyKingz, Smominru, DarkCloud, or Hexmen has been found to use the image of pop sensation Taylor Swift to hide the malware dump on victim's computer. The malware in question first surfaced in 2017 and since then it has become the largest crypto-mining malware for scammers.

In the latest development, the crypto mining botnet was found to be using Taylor Swift's photo to trick the target companies security system. The security system is tricked into thinking that the infected computer is downloading a.JPEG file instead of much harmful.EXE files. However, this was not the first time when a malware operator has used a celebrity's image to dump malware on the victim's computer, only last year another hacker group used Scarlet Johanson's photo to infect its malware into hacked PostgreSQL databases.

The malware is generally targeted at Windows computer in the form of crypto mining application, and once the malware is planted, these scammers use victim's computer to mine cryptocurrencies without victim's knowledge. The malware botnet is considered to be highly sophisticated and has one of the most diversified scannings and infecting mechanism. It is believed that the malware target any vulnerability that can be exploited, be it MySQL, SSH, RDP or even the rarer stuff such as IPC and WMI.

MyKinz Botnet Operators have made millions through mining malware infection

Several reports in the past have claimed that the malware has been eliminated, but every time it came back with a different name. The crypto mining malware is quite aggressive and rapid in infecting systems, and they are harder to detect since this malware is buried deep inside cooperate networks. It is estimated that the malware-infected more than 525,000 computers in just the first month of its existence netting scammers a whopping $2.3 million in Monero (XMR). Even today when the malware is well-known, it is able to infect around 4,700 new computers every day.

While a recent report from Kaspersky has claimed that crypto-jacking activities have reduced significantly in 2019, while ransomware attacks have come back in trend. But, it is important to note that the few mining malware like MyKingz has started to become more sophisticated to bypass security measures taken by people.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading crypto assets comes with a risk of financial loss.

Crypto Mining Botnet Uses Taylor Swift's Image to Dump Malware

Prashant Jha

An engineering graduate, Prashant focuses on UK and Indian markets. As a crypto-journalist, his interests lie in blockchain technology adoption across emerging economies.