Citizens Computers Could Be Hacked To Mine Cryptocurrencies In Egypt
Amid growing cryptocurrency mining attacks, The Citizen Lab of Toronto University released data showing that Egyptian government has been reportedly hacking into its citizens’ computers to mine digital currencies.
A scheme was revealed by the Citizen Lab called AdHose. In this scheme the Egyptian government or government-linked entities redirected Internet users to websites infected with malware that mined the Monero cryptocurrency without the users’ knowledge.
One of the modes within the AdHose scheme was to force malicious ads or websites on Egyptian users.
It is uncertain the amount of people who were impacted by this. The AdHose scheme is likely an effort to covertly raise money.
The same tactics were used in Syria and Turkey, but malicious software in those instances was said to be employed to spy on citizens.
According to the report, the similar tactic was also used to block access to a number of websites, including Al Jazeera, Reporters Without Borders and HuffPost Arabi.
The Citizen Lab report comes at a time when cases of forced cryptocurrency mining are skyrocketing.
About two weeks ago, an internet company called Cyren Security Lab released its own findings and stated, that there was a 725% increase in the number of websites running crypto mining scripts from last September to January 2018.
The main currency, that was used by the mining scripts was Monero. It was launched in April 2014 and uses mining to create new coinage.
