Topic: [2018-02-27]Android Mining Trojans Report: Monero Mostly Favored (Read 68 times)

360 Security release a report about mining trojans on Android platform. Among the 5 cryptocurrencies being targeted, Monero is the most popular one.

Summary
Mobile mining Trojan is the application that uses mobile phone computing power to obtain cryptocurrency for the attacker without the user's consent.
Cryptocurrency is an anonymous virtual currency. Due to its censorship-proof, semi-anonymous and intractable features, cryptocurrencies are often used for illegal transactions, or tools to conceal criminal conducts.
In March 2014 the first Android mining trojan was detected. From 2013 to January 2018, 360 Labs captured a total of more than 1,200 mining Trojan based on Android, around 400 of which emerge in January 2018 alone.

In terms of disguised forms, tools (20%), downloader (17%), wallpaper (14%) are the most commonly seen applications.
In terms of distribution sources, a dozen were found in Google play and more than 300 are distributed through third-party sites with a total download count of 2.6 million.

According to Adguard, in nearly 1 month in 2017, around 220 out of the top 100,000 Alexa-ranking websites failed to remind users that their computers were exploited for mining when users open their homepages. The number of affected users the number is up to 500 million. Most of them are video portals, file sharing sites, pornographic websites, news media and other websites that users tend to stay longer.

Five cryptocurrencies are mined on Android Trojan applications: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Casinocoin and Monero.
Pool-mining are mostly adopted on Android Trojan rather than solo mining. Most android Trojan adopt open source pool-mining code or browser-based JavaScript.

Techniques include detecting device power, wake-up status, charge status, setting invisible pages and fake app downloader.
Profit model shifts from advertising to mining. Monroe become the preferred cryptocurrency and the target of the attack shift from attacking wallet to mining through android trojan.
PC platform already has counter measures while mobile platform cannot defend trojan comprehensively due to authority control.

Mobile platform mining is restricted by battery capacity and processor capacity. But cryptocurrencies are rapidly growing, new cryptos and values are increasing and mining eventually become profitable.
Such new profit model is still in its infancy, which requires more regulation to prevent it from being exploited.

http://news.8btc.com/android-mining-trojans-report-monero-mostly-favored