SentinelOne Vs. Container-Based CoinMiner Malware – Termination and Quarantine

Cryptocurrencies have become a focal point for cybercriminals, but by far the most popular cryptocurrency to mine among cybercriminals over the last couple of years has been Monero virtual currency (XMR). Over the last year, Monero is up 550% in value and cybercriminals are looking for long-lasting Monero mining campaigns to gain huge profits.

Cryptomining malware flies under the radar because many of these unwanted programs do not do anything obviously malicious to infected systems. However, the mining costs are absorbed by the unknowing device owner while cybercriminals reap the rewards.

SentinelLabs recently detected a cryptocurrency mining campaign affecting Container Linux systems. The container software platform has witnessed huge growth among enterprises due to its ability to push out applications in small, resource-frugal containers. This, combined with the fact that many security solutions lack visibility into container images, makes them ideal targets for low-risk, finance-driven campaigns.