Trend Micro Reveals New Outlaw Hacker Crypto Jacking Software

The Outlaw hacker group, which specializes in hijacking a victim's computer to mine Monero, has begun again.Attack US and Europe based businesses with new tools.

Trend Micro reports Outlaw hacker groupbegan to penetrate corporate systems based on Linux to seize the power of computers and use them for hidden mining of the Monero cryptocurrency. The report says Outlaw uses a combination of existing tools and new methods to monitor programs that can detect malware.

Improved malware can also track downand disable existing mining bots found in infected systems, thereby eliminating competition and increasing profits. Past iterations could only partially reduce the activity of competing mining programs. Trend Micro reports that Outlaw's activity began to rise in December after months of inactivity.

“We expect the group to be more active in the coming months, as we observed changes in the versions of malware that came into our hands,” the report said.

Although Outlaw was previously limitedcomputer systems in China, a Trend Micro report says hackers are currently targeting businesses in Europe and the US. The company found that the group also attacked several traps for hackers located in Eastern Europe.

The report does not disclose the names of enterprises inUSA or other countries that have been affected by Outlaw malware. Trend Micro suggests that hackers can also try to steal information and sell it to the highest bidder. The report said that companies in the financial and automotive industries that had not updated their security systems for a long time were the most vulnerable to attacks.

In February last year, it was reported that discovereda hidden Shellbot miner for mining Monero on Linux devices, which Outlaw hackers also stand behind. Last summer, Trend Micro claimed to have detected a botnet spread by the same hacker group with the XMR mining component and backdoor.

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