SophosLabs has just released a research paper on a new way that cybercriminals are distributing malware that makes money by “borrowing” your computer to mine cryptocurrency.

The report by Attila Marosi, Senior Threat Researcher at Sophos, investigates the Mal/Miner-C malware, which criminals are using to mine the cryptocurrency Monero.

In this paper, Marosi examines how Mal/Miner-C quietly infects victims’ computers and communicates with host servers to run mining operations covertly in the background.

Alone, one computer may not make a big impact on cryptocurrency mining, but the criminals aim to infect as many computers as possible with their malware so they can reap the cumulative financial reward from hundreds of thousands of infected computers.

Marosi investigates how NAS devices are used as a distribution server for the Mal/Miner-C malware, and explores the criminals’ mining activities and how much money this racket is potentially worth to them.

Download this new technical paper today to learn about Mal/Miner-C, how it is used to mine cryptocurrencies, and how you can help to stop the crooks.