Hackers can use compromised Google Cloud accounts to install mining software in under 30 seconds: Report

The report said the actors usually gained access to Cloud accounts because of “poor customer security practices” or “vulnerable third-party software.” Read the full article by: Turner Wright

Key Points:

• Hackers are always finding new ways to separate people from their money and it is one of the biggest issues holding back crypto from being bigger than it is. While there are “white hat” hackers that use their knowledge and skills for the betterment of networks it is usually the “black hats” that give them a bad name and steal the headlines.

• Googles Cybersecurity Action team noted that bad actors are exploiting “poorly configured” accounts on the Google Cloud server to mine crypto. On Wednesday, the Google team said that out 50 of the incidents that they analyzed roughly 86% of those incidents were related to crypto mining.

• “While data theft did not appear to be the objective of these compromises, it remains a risk associated with the Cloud asset compromises as bad actors start performing multiple forms of abuse,” said the Cybersecurity Action Team. “The public Internet-facing Cloud instances were open to scanning and brute force attacks.”

• Based on Googles analysis these hackers were able to download the crypto mining software to the compromised computers in as little as 22 seconds. They also stated that it is nearly impossible once started to intervene and stop the incident from occurring.

• This type of exploit is not new and is commonly referred to as “cryptojacking”. It also is not limited to just regular peoples computers. The most notable incident of this kind was when Capital Ones credit card servers were compromised and used to mine cryptocurrency back in 2019.