Bitdefender, an antivirus and cybersecurity company has identified BHUNT as a new type of malware. It targets cryptocurrency wallets by installing software. It can also be used to install cracked or unsecured software. The system is already packaged and ready for deployment on desktops. After installation, the malware extracts passwords and seeds from many wallets.
Wild BHUNT Malware spotted
Bitdefender, an international cybersecurity company, released a report on a new form of password theft that targets cryptocurrency wallets stored on PCs. The new malware BHUNT (or Electrum, Atomic, Jaxx, Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Jaxx) enters computers via infected software, usually of cracked software. The software’s technical information states that BHUNT can attack Exodus (Electrum), Atomic and Jaxx as well as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Litecoin wallets. The software, once installed, can be used to transfer funds from users to another wallet and steal private information stored on the computer infected.
The threat of password theft is not new in the computer sector. Computers can be infected with various viruses, which also possess these abilities. Its presence is encrypted, packaged digitally as software and signed with a certificate. But the software itself is not compatible with its binary.
Infection Prevention
Bitdefender determined that BHUNT was untargeted and released wild. On how the software spread, Bitdefender’s report states:
Our telemetry was generated from individuals who have crypto wallet software installed. We suspect that this target group also installs cracks to operating system software.
It showed the country with the highest number of infections on a map. Australia, Egypt and Germany were the top countries.
Bitdefender issued guidelines to prevent infecting yourself with BHUNT and other password-stealing malware. “The most effective way to defend against this threat is to avoid installing software from untrusted sources and to keep security solutions up to date,” the report concluded.
Recently, a torrent that contained the new “Spiderman: No Way Home” movie was reported to also contain cryptocurrency malware.
What do you think about the new BHUNT cryptocurrency-stealing malware? Comment below.
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