Researchers Uncover Undetectable Crypto Mining Technique on Azure Automation

Cybersecurity researchers have developed what's the first fully undetectable cloud-based cryptocurrency miner leveraging the Microsoft Azure Automation service without racking up any charges. Cybersecurity company SafeBreach said it discovered three different methods to run the miner, including one that can be executed on a victim's environment without attracting any attention. "While this research is significant because of its potential impact on cryptocurrency mining, we also believe it has serious implications for other areas, as the techniques could be used to achieve any task that requires code execution on Azure," security researcher Ariel Gamrian said in a report shared with The Hacker News. The study mainly set out to identify an "Ultimate crypto miner" that offers unlimited access to computational resources, while simultaneously requiring little-to-no maintenance, is cost-free, and undetectable. Developed by Microsoft, it's a cloud-based automation service that allows users to automate the creation, deployment, monitoring, and maintenance of resources in Azure. SafeBreach said it found a bug in the Azure pricing calculator that made it possible to execute an infinite number of jobs totally free of charge, although it relates to the attacker's environment itself. An alternative method entails creating a test-job for mining, followed by setting its status as "Failed," and then creating another dummy test-job by taking advantage of the fact that only one test can run at the same time. The end result of this flow is that it completely hides code execution within the Azure environment. A threat actor could leverage these methods by establishing a reverse shell towards an external server and authenticating to the Automation endpoint to achieve their goals. It was found that code execution could be achieved by leveraging Azure Automation's feature that allows users to upload custom Python packages. "We could create a malicious package named 'pip' and upload it to the Automation Account," Gamrian explained. "The upload flow would replace the current pip in the Automation account. After our custom pip was saved in the Automation account, the service used it every time a package was uploaded." SafeBreach has also made available a proof-of-concept dubbed CoinMiner that's designed to get free computing power within Azure Automation service by using the Python package upload mechanism. Microsoft, in response to the disclosures, has characterized the behavior as "By design," meaning the method can still be exploited without getting charged. While the scope of the research is limited to the abuse of Azure Automation for cryptocurrency mining, the cybersecurity firm warned that the same techniques could be repurposed by threat actors to achieve any task that requires code execution on Azure. "As cloud provider customers, individual organizations must proactively monitor every single resource and every action being performed within their environment," Gamrian said. "We highly recommend that organizations educate themselves about the methods and flows malicious actors may use to create undetectable resources and proactively monitor for code execution indicative of such behavior."

This Cyber News was published on thehackernews.com. Publication date: Thu, 30 Nov 2023 23:19:27 +0000


Cyber News related to Researchers Uncover Undetectable Crypto Mining Technique on Azure Automation

Researchers Uncover Undetectable Crypto Mining Technique on Azure Automation - Cybersecurity researchers have developed what's the first fully undetectable cloud-based cryptocurrency miner leveraging the Microsoft Azure Automation service without racking up any charges. Cybersecurity company SafeBreach said it discovered three ...
11 months ago Thehackernews.com
What is Azure Identity Protection and 7 Steps to a Seamless Setup - As a result, tools such as Microsoft's Azure Identity Protection have become a staple in protecting against compromised identities, account takeover, and misuse of privileges. Azure Identity Protection is a security service that provides a robust ...
5 months ago Securityboulevard.com
New Research Delves Into the World of Malicious Cryptocurrency Mining - As cryptocurrency prices have soared in recent years, malicious cryptocurrency miners have increasingly targeted vulnerable computer systems with malicious crypto-mining software in search of profits. In a new research paper, security researchers at ...
1 year ago Thehackernews.com
New Technology for an Old Industry - A few weeks ago our mining experts sat down with Danny Vicente from Cisco's Coffee and Conversations to discuss what is taking place in the mining industry. In this episode Roland Plett and Bruce Frederick talk about how mining has evolved from the ...
9 months ago Feedpress.me
Five business use cases for evaluating Azure Virtual WAN security solutions - To help organizations who are evaluating security solutions to protect their Virtual WAN deployments, this article considers five business use cases and explains how Check Point enhances and complements Azure security with its best-of-breed, ...
5 months ago Blog.checkpoint.com
Feds Seize 'Sinbad' Crypto Mixer Used by North Korea's Lazarus - In its continued efforts to crack down on North Korea's most formidable state-sponsored threat group, the US government has seized a virtual currency mixer that has been serving as the principal way the group launders money stolen from its ...
11 months ago Darkreading.com
Azure Service Tags tagged as security risk, Microsoft disagrees - Security researchers at Tenable discovered what they describe as a high-severity vulnerability in Azure Service Tag that could allow attackers to access customers' private data. Service Tags are groups of IP addresses for a specific Azure service ...
4 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Microsoft fixes critical Azure CLI flaw that leaked credentials in logs - Microsoft has fixed a critical security vulnerability that could let attackers steal credentials from GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps logs created using Azure CLI. The vulnerability was reported by security researchers with Palo Alto's Prisma Cloud. ...
11 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Energy-Efficient Home Automation: Saving the Planet and Your Wallet - Home automation solutions offer an array of benefits, from improved convenience to decreased energy bills. This article will explore the types of home automation systems available, as well as their cost and potential for energy efficiency. The ...
10 months ago Securityzap.com
Home Automation for All: Enabling Independence - As technology advances, home automation provides a sense of empowerment for elderly and disabled individuals. Home automation for the elderly and disabled reduces dependence on others and promotes independence in the home environment. Home automation ...
10 months ago Securityzap.com
Azure Serial Console Attack and Defense - This is the second installment of the Azure Serial Console blog, which provides insights to improve defenders' preparedness when investigating Azure Serial Console activity on Azure Linux virtual machines. While the first blog post discussed various ...
10 months ago Msrc.microsoft.com
Signing Executables With Azure DevOps - This signing tool is compatible with all major executable files and works impeccably with all OV and EV code signing certificates. It's mostly used with Azure DevOps due to the benefit of Azure Key Vault. Here, you will undergo the complete procedure ...
10 months ago Feeds.dzone.com
Azure MACC Credits Gathering Dust? Use Them to Get the Best Prevention-First Security - As we enter 2024, your organization may have unused MACC or Azure commit-to-consume credits as your annual renewal date draws near. Whether you have credits that will soon expire or are starting to plan your Azure spend for the next 12 months, Check ...
9 months ago Blog.checkpoint.com
RedTail Malware Abuses Palo Alto Flaw in Latest Cryptomining Campaign - Hackers with possible ties to the notorious North Korea-linked Lazarus Group are exploiting a recent critical vulnerability in Palo Alto Network's PAN-OS software to run a sophisticated cryptomining operation that likely has nation-state backing. In ...
5 months ago Securityboulevard.com
Researchers Uncover Simple Technique to Extract ChatGPT Training Data - Can getting ChatGPT to repeat the same word over and over again cause it to regurgitate large amounts of its training data, including personally identifiable information and other data scraped from the Web? The answer is an emphatic yes, according to ...
11 months ago Darkreading.com
How to Get Started With Security Automation: Consider the Top Use Cases Within Your Industry - As the cybersecurity industry has matured, so has the approach security teams take to making decisions about investing in security tools. Instead of focusing on the latest product or technology, security professionals are focused on use cases such as ...
9 months ago Securityweek.com
Fortifying confidential computing in Microsoft Azure - I wrote about how Microsoft used Intel's secure extensions to its processor instruction sets to provide a foundation for confidential computing in Azure a few years ago. In the years since, the confidential computing market has taken a few steps ...
10 months ago Infoworld.com
AI and Automation - In recent years, developments in artificial intelligence and automation technology have drastically reshaped application security. On one hand, the progress in AI and automation has strengthened security mechanisms, reduced reaction times, and ...
10 months ago Feeds.dzone.com
The Week in Ransomware - January 20th, 2023 Crypto Exchanges Under Attack - The week of January 20th, 2023 brought yet another wave of ransomware attacks targeting crypto exchanges. Crypto exchanges all around the world have been hit by a barrage of sophisticated and well-planned ransomware campaigns. From high-profile ...
1 year ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Explore How Emojideploy Botnet Exploited Microsoft Azure for Remote Code Execution - As cloud computing gains more popularity among businesses, the threat of cyber-attack surfaces to the fore. Microsoft Azure is not immune to security issues, as the recent exploit involving Emojideploy Botnet demonstrates. In this article, we will ...
1 year ago Securityaffairs.com
Android/SpyNote Moves to Crypto Currencies - Affected Platform: AndroidImpacted Users: Android users with mobile crypto wallet or banking applicationsImpact: Financial LossSeverity Level: Medium. It has grown into one of the most common families of malware for Android, with multiple samples, ...
8 months ago Feeds.fortinet.com
North Korean Hackers Stole $600m in Crypto in 2023 - North Korean hackers stole at least $600m in cryptocurrency in 2023, around a third of the total value of such heists, according to blockchain intelligence firm TRM. Despite the eye-watering sum, this figure represents a 30% reduction on ...
9 months ago Infosecurity-magazine.com
Bloomberg Crypto X account snafu leads to Discord phishing attack - The official Twitter account for Bloomberg Crypto was used earlier today to redirect users to a deceptive website that stole Discord credentials in a phishing attack. As first spotted by crypto fraud investigator ZachXBT, the profile contained a link ...
11 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Web3 security firm CertiK's X account hacked to push crypto drainer - The Twitter/X account of blockchain security firm CertiK was hijacked today to redirect the company's more than 343,000 followers to a malicious website pushing a cryptocurrency wallet drainer. Crypto fraud sleuth ZachXBT later leaked screenshots of ...
10 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Comprehensive Cloud Monitoring Platforms: Ensuring - Platforms for comprehensive cloud monitoring come into play in this situation. In this article, we will explore the significance of comprehensive cloud monitoring platforms and delve into some leading solutions available in the market today. ...
11 months ago Feeds.dzone.com

Latest Cyber News


Cyber Trends (last 7 days)


Trending Cyber News (last 7 days)