Ransomware Hackers and Scammers Utilizing Cloud Mining to Launder Cryptocurrency
Jun 15, 2023
Cryptocurrency / Ransomware
Ransomware actors and cryptocurrency scammers have joined nation-state actors in abusing cloud mining services to launder digital assets, new findings reveal. "Cryptocurrency mining is a crucial part of our industry, but it also holds special appeal to bad actors, as it provides a means to acquire money with a totally clean on-chain original source," blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said in a report shared with The Hacker News. Earlier this March, Google Mandiant disclosed North Korea-based APT43's use of the hash rental and cloud mining services to obscure the forensic trail and wash the stolen cryptocurrency "clean." Cloud mining services allow users to rent a computer system and use that computer's hash power to mine cryptocurrencies without having to manage the mining hardware themselves. But according to Chainalysis, it's not just nation-state hacking crews who are leveraging such services in the wild. In one example highlighted by ...