New cryptominer botnet spreads payload, less intrusive
It is the first time that anyone’s documented the a multi-modular botnet, according to Talos, which discovered the botnet and dubbed it “Prometei.” The botnet, which has been active since March, spreads a payload to provide financial benefits for the attackers by mining Monero for a single developer – also the actor – most likely in Eastern Europe.
Talos in a new report said defenders are likely to spot the botnet, but the infection likely won’t be obvious to end-users. The discovery resulted from Talos investigating telemetry information it received from Cisco AMP for Endpoints’ install base.
After studying its activities over the past two months, Talos believes the actor has used different methods to spread Prometei through a network to gain credentials and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and Server Message Block (SMB) exploits. The adversary also uses several crafted tools that help the botnet increase the amount of systems participating in its Monero-mining pool.
