A hacker has targeted mining pools, stealing tens of thousands of dollars worth of cryptocurrency.
The news comes from Dell’s SecureWorks unit, an online security service company.
According to SecureWorks’ report, an “unknown entity” hijacked 51 different networks from 19 different ISPs between February and May of this year, using them to redirect the profits mining pools should receive to his own pool. This landed him an estimated $83,000 USD.
As a result, the miners continued to use their hash power to create new bitcoins, but those coins ended up in the hands of the hacker.
What Did They Take?
Though the hacker’s primary target was Bitcoin due to its high value, the hacker managed to take several other currencies as well.
Among them were Dogecoin, HoboNickels, and Worldcoin, who each have a current value of less than 1 cent USD.
Dell SecureWorks did admit that their information was incomplete, and that it “does strongly indicate that other currencies were being mined.”
For the full Dell SecureWorks report, click here.
What They Did About It
SecureWorks reported their findings to the ISP most affected by the attack, and they stopped three days later.
They believe that similar future attacks are unlikely.
Security breaches are no longer shocking news in the cryptocurrency world, but it’s usually exchanges and online wallet services which are targeted. Targeting a mining pool seems like a logical step, though, considering an estimated $2.6 million USD is made daily in cryptocurrency mining.
This Hacker May Have Stolen Your Cryptocurrency Without You Noticing
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