Tag Archives: Cryptomining

Hetzner, a popular German web hosting and dedicated server provider has updated its terms of use to ban cryptomining on its servers, after it found several users using its cloud storage offering to mine Chia.

Chia is based on a new consensus algorithm known as proof of space and time, and is a departure from the usual proof of work used by traditional cryptocurrencies. 

Organizations’ on-premise and cloud-based servers are compromised, abused and rented out as part of a sophisticated criminal monetization lifecycle, Trend Micro research finds.

The findings come from a report looking at how the underground hosting market operates. The findings show that cryptocurrency mining activity should be the indicator for IT security teams to be on high alert.

Cryptomining activity used to monetize compromised servers

While cryptomining activity may not cause disruption or financial losses on its own, mining software is usually deployed to monetize compromised servers that are sitting idle while criminals plot larger money-making schemes. These include exfiltrating valuable data, selling server access for further abuse, or preparing for a targeted