After Malicious Malware, Now URL Shorteners Might Enable Illicit Crypto Mining

After Malicious Malware, Now URL Shorteners Might Enable Illicit Crypto Mining
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It is hardly a secret that crypto jacking or illicit cryptocurrency mining is a part of our lives. Cybersecurity companies have time and again submitted reports, tweeted, and warned people of the dangers associated with installing unfamiliar programs on their computers.

URL shortener – the new malicious trick on the block

Recently, Japanese police arrested almost 16 people for using Coinhive scripts in a malicious program that allegedly mined cryptocurrency Monero from unsuspecting users’ computers. It was the first case in which the police in Japan contemplated booking the accused and slapping criminal charges on them.

Recently, a report from Malwarebytes, anti-malware software developer, suggested that URL shorteners are also capable of mining cryptocurrencies. A URL shortener is a website that allows people to shorten their default URLs. For instance, Google has its own shortener called goo.gl. One can enter their default URL and the shortener can make it more concise.

The report stated that Coinhive has a similar facility. It allows potential miners to embed JavaScript-run crypto miners on their own web browsers, which also comes in with a built-in URL shortener. The shortener will then allow the miner to mine cryptocurrency through the shortened link.

Malwarebytes Labs said that they kept a close watch on known redirects to websites of interest and they found that most of them were closely related to Coinhive domains.

After Malicious Malware, Now URL Shorteners Might Enable Illicit Crypto Mining

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Kane Dane