Hackers are targeting torrent downloads of the latest Spider-Man movie to enter consumer computers by using Monero mining malware to be installed on respective devices. It appears that hacking experts are exploring unique methods to scam unsuspecting prey and harness their computing power. Now, the basic instruments used are the leaks from the movie Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The premiere of Spider-Man: No Way Home took place on the 17th December 2021 (only one week ago) in the United States. For a short period, it has become the third most popular film throughout the year, according to statistics provided by the box office. The data given by Box Office Mojo indicates that the respective film is the highest grossing of 2021, surpassing $ 350M in just one week after its release.
Certainly a movie with such popularity would also be in demand at an exceptional level and could result in some leaked releases across the internet, most often via torrent downloads. Nonetheless, the latest investigation has revealed that such movie releases have been primarily targeted by hackers. The respective study goes on to mention that the hackers used Monero miners and placed them in torrent downloads of the newly released movies.
People who are not familiar with what malware is, it is a piece of coding that is not included in the intention of the publisher, and the training of the same is carried out to execute various processes behind the scenes without the consent and knowledge of the publisher. consumer. . In this sense, the miners would also add some exclusions on Windows Defender and generate a regulatory process to carry out its operation.
The investigation highlights that the malware tries to stay outside the inspection entities, by using legal names for the processes and files created by it; For example, it states that Google will drop files with names like sihost64.exe. Monero is expected to have been the product of choice for hackers regarding cryptocurrencies as it improves privacy features.
