CAI cloud worm gives competitors’ malware the boot, then steals secrets and mines for coin


There’s no honor among thieves as a new worm steals from other infectious software. It pilfers “multiple” victims’ credentials and mines for cryptocurrency while killing competitors’ processes, including similar secret-harvesting malware.

It’s called Cloud AI Infrastructure Attack Framework (CAI), and it’s a centralized botnet that targets cloud-native developer tools like Docker, Kubernetes, Redis, etcd, Kubelet, and Ray for credential theft and cryptomining.

The scripts “are heavily inspired” by the likes of other similar credential-stealing worms that have wreaked havoc across cloud environments and supply chains this year, “using code comments like ‘PCPJack-aligned,’” according to security researcher Michael R.

Read more…
Source:  The Register


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • DDoS mystery: Who’s behind this massive wave of attacks targeting Dutch banks?

    February 1, 2018

    There is as yet no indication of who is behind the massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on Netherlands banks and government websites that ran from last weekend to Tuesday. Initial reports suggesting a Russian connection appear baseless. The attacks began just a couple of days after media reports stated that Dutch intelligence tipped off their ...

  • Meltdown-Spectre: Malware is already being tested by attackers

    February 1, 2018

    German antivirus testing firm AV-Test has identified 139 samples of malware that seem to be early attempts at exploiting the Meltdown and Spectre CPU bugs. “So far, the AV-Test Institute discovered 139 samples that appear to be related to recently reported CPU vulnerabilities. CVE-2017-5715, CVE-2017-5753, CVE-2017-5754,” the company wrote on Twitter. The company has posted SHA-256 hashes of several ...

  • Cryptocurrency Mining Malware Infected Over Half-Million PCs Using NSA Exploit

    January 31, 2018

    2017 was the year of high profile data breaches and ransomware attacks, but from the beginning of this year, we are noticing a faster-paced shift in the cyber threat landscape, as cryptocurrency-related malware is becoming a popular and profitable choice of cyber criminals. Several cybersecurity firms are reporting of new cryptocurrency mining viruses that are being ...

  • Digital Extortion: A Forward-looking View

    January 30, 2018

    In 2017, we saw digital extortion increasingly become cybercriminals’ first and foremost money-making modus operandi. It’s mostly due to ransomware — cybercriminals’ currently most popular weapon of choice, helping them in extorting cash from users all over the world and in hitting big businesses and organizations. By infecting business-critical systems through their shotgun-style ransomware attacks and ...

  • Ploutus.D Malware Variant Used in U.S.-based ATM Jackpotting Attacks

    January 29, 2018

    The United States Secret Service issued a warning on Friday to financial institutions citing “credible information” about “planned” attacks against U.S. cash machines using malware that can quickly drain ATM machines dry of cash. The warning came a day after ATM maker Diebold Nixdorf also warned its customers of “potential”  ATM Jackpotting attacks moving from Mexico to the U.S. But journalist Brian ...

  • Ransomware: Is time running out for the biggest menace on the web?

    January 26, 2018

    Ransomware attacks like WannaCry and Petya caused major chaos last year, while the likes of Locky and Cerber were less high-profile, but still managed to generate large amounts of income for their criminal creators. 2017 was the year of ransomware, but it could be that the file-encrypting malware has already reached its peak, as an analysis of cybercriminal campaigns appears to show that malicious ...