Sub-technique of T1496 Resource Hijacking.View on attack.mitre.org
Adversaries may leverage the compute resources of co-opted systems to complete resource-intensive tasks, which may impact system and/or hosted service availability.
One common purpose for Compute Hijacking is to validate transactions of cryptocurrency networks and earn virtual currency. Adversaries may consume enough system resources to negatively impact and/or cause affected machines to become unresponsive. Servers and cloud-based systems are common targets because of the high potential for available resources, but user endpoint systems may also be compromised and used for Compute Hijacking and cryptocurrency mining. Containerized environments may also be targeted due to the ease of deployment via exposed APIs and the potential for scaling mining activities by deploying or compromising multiple containers within an environment or cluster.
Additionally, some cryptocurrency mining malware identify then kill off processes for competing malware to ensure it’s not competing for resources.
Rules on DetectionCode tagged with T1496.001.
| Used by | Procedure example |
|---|---|
| GroupAPT41 | APT41 deployed a Monero cryptocurrency mining tool in a victim’s environment. |
| GroupBlue Mockingbird | Blue Mockingbird has used XMRIG to mine cryptocurrency on victim systems. |
| GroupRocke | Rocke has distributed cryptomining malware. |
| GroupTeamTNT | TeamTNT has deployed XMRig Docker images to mine cryptocurrency. TeamTNT has also infected Docker containers and Kubernetes clusters with XMRig, and used RainbowMiner and lolMiner for mining cryptocurrency. |
| Used by | Procedure example |
|---|---|
| MalwareBonadan | Bonadan can download an additional module which has a cryptocurrency mining extension. |
| MalwareCookieMiner | CookieMiner has loaded coinmining software onto systems to mine for Koto cryptocurrency. |
| MalwareDarkGate | DarkGate can deploy follow-on cryptocurrency mining payloads. |
| MalwareHildegard | Hildegard has used xmrig to mine cryptocurrency. |
| ToolImminent Monitor | Imminent Monitor has the capability to run a cryptocurrency miner on the victim machine. |
| MalwareKinsing | Kinsing has created and run a Bitcoin cryptocurrency miner. |
| MalwareLoudMiner | LoudMiner harvested system resources to mine cryptocurrency, using XMRig to mine Monero. |
| MalwareLucifer | Lucifer can use system resources to mine cryptocurrency, dropping XMRig to mine Monero. |
Data from MITRE ATT&CK® (Enterprise). ATT&CK® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.
