Hello my fellow Steemians, I just came across this information and thought it wise to share with you.
With many users entering the crypto sphere, hacking is on the increase as well. Hackers are having a field day. These criminals are now targeting unsuspecting cryptocurrency users and their host gadgets. A mining bot by the name DigMine is on the loose and targeting your Facebook messenger App users.
The bot attacks your Facebook messenger in a bid to mine crypto specifically the anonymous Monero that is doing well in the digital money markets. DigMine has the capability of mining Monero coins at will once introduced to your CPU.
The DigMine file is disguised in a video format that will originate from one of your followers. This is specificity transported through the Facebook messenger that you download on your home computers Google Chrome. This might mean that your smartphone is safe, as if now, but you need to be wary of files with the name “video_xxxx.zip”.
According to Trend Mocro, a cyber-security firm:
"If the user’s Facebook account is set to log in automatically, DigMine will manipulate Facebook Messenger in order to send a link to the file to the account’s friends. The abuse of Facebook is limited to propagation for now, but it wouldn’t be implausible for attackers to hijack the Facebook account itself down the line".
DigMine allows hackers a back door access to your Facebook account; the more followers you have on your list the higher chances of being affected. When the malware is spread, it multiplies and more and more users are infected.
Once the malware is in your Facebook messenger, it automatically installs a cryptocurrency miner; miner.exe, a fake version of Monero coin. Once installed, it mines in the background and you will not be able to tell. Once the mining process is complete, the rewards are transferred to the hacker account.
You could be running the DigMine bot on your computer since it is capable of installing itself using an auto start methods that prompts Chrome to launch with the malicious malware. Once hackers get your Facebook account details, it becomes easy for you to spread the malware unawares makes it easy for them to reach more victims.
However, according to Trend Micro, Facebook has been able to take down the malware links. It is possible that hackers can alter the links using different codes and still penetrate the Facebook messenger App.
I thought it was important to share this with the community to take precautionary measures with Facebook messenger on their personal computers.