The cybercriminals installed malware on internet cafes for Siacoin mining. According to the reports, their malware mining raised $800,000. The group started its operation in July last year, affecting over 100 000 internet café computers.
Chinese media revealed that a JinHua (an internet café software firm) network technician organized the illegal crypto mining attack. The technician developed the concept and the software.
He and his network of allies installed the malware during the routine check-ups of the computers under the firms' maintenance. All profits generated by the illegal mining operation were split amongst the group.
Contrary to most cryptojacking malwares, which minimize their activities and resource to avoid detection, the JinHua malware used the full capacity of the computers.
The first clients who noticed that the computers were too slow were internet cafes in the Zhejiang Province city of Rui’a. Furthermore, they started receiving electricity bills significantly higher than usual. When the owners contacted the maintenance companies, they conveniently found nothing wrong with the computers.
Facing the challenging situation with no available solution to the problem, the internet kiosk operators submitted a collective police complaint. The police managed to make the first arrest in October last year, which led to the arrests of 16 suspects.
The investigation is still ongoing, reporting of over 30 Chinese cities affected by the malware. Furthermore, the findings revealed that more than 100 computer maintenance companies were involved in the cybercriminal network.
With regards to the Siacoin price, two months before the detection of the malware, the SC coin was trading at $ 0.002. In July it’s price was around the $ 0.01 mark, a significant rise of 400%. Currently, Siacoin’s price is $ 0.013. According to CoinMarketCap, its market capitalization reaches over $450 million.