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| Google warns minors not to use hacked cloud accounts |
Google has warned that crypto miners are using hacked Google Cloud accounts for intensive computational mining.
The search giant's cybersecurity team provided detailed insights to a report called Threat Horizons, which is designed to give companies insights into securing their cloud environments.
In the summary of the report, Google wrote: According to the notes, there are entities that mine cryptocurrency via a black cloud account.
Cryptocurrency mining is a profitable business that usually requires a lot of computing power that Google Cloud customers can access at a fixed cost.
Google Cloud is a remote storage platform that allows customers to store data and files in remote locations.
According to Google, 86% of the 50 Google Cloud accounts that were recently hacked were used to mine cryptocurrency.
In most cases, the crypto-mining software was downloaded within 22 seconds of the account being hacked, the company said.
About 10% of the stolen accounts are used to investigate other publicly available online resources to identify vulnerable systems. And 8% of the accounts are used to attack other targets.
The search giant said that malicious actors can gain access to Google Cloud accounts. This is achieved by exploiting weak security practices on the part of customers.
Almost half of stolen accounts are caused by actors who access weak or passwordless Google Cloud accounts.
Hence, it is easy to scan and hack Google Cloud accounts. About a quarter of the stolen accounts are due to weaknesses in third-party software installed by the owner.
Google talks about cloud threats
Bitcoin is the world's most popular cryptocurrency and has been criticized for its energy-intensive nature. Bitcoin mining uses more energy than the entire country.
In May, police searched a suspected marijuana plantation and found it an illegal Bitcoin mining hub.
“The landscape of cloud threats in 2021 is more complex than that of crypto miners,” wrote Bob Mitchler, Google Cloud’s chief information security officer.
He said Google researchers also discovered a phishing attack by the Russian organization Fancy Bear in late September. He added that the company prevented the attack.
He stated that Google researchers also discovered a threat group backed by the North Korean government. Who claims to be a recruiter for Samsung. The point here is to send malicious attachments to employees of several South Korean cybersecurity companies to combat malware.