Cloud9 is a piece of malware discovered by the cybersecurity company Zimperium. According to the latter, from a “simple” cryptocurrency mining utility, this virus quickly turned into an all-purpose tool for hackers in the form of an extension for Chrome.
Security specialist Nipun Gupta has shared the results of his research on Cloud9, a malware in the form of an extension for Chrome. It contains only three JavaScript files, but according to the experts, hackers make it evolve fast to make it ever more versatile and virulent.
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Browsers have become the center of our digital lives. If hackers had free access to it, they would know our tastes and habits, but could also get their hands on all our identifiers and therefore all of our online accounts. This is why hackers seek by all means to hack Internet users to put their data on sale. In this case, Cloud9 comes in the form of an extension for Chrome. It’s a real cybercriminal’s swiss army knife as evidenced by the impressive list of features offered.
Cloud9 was first used to mine cryptocurrencies, then evolved a lot
Originally scheduled for mine cryptocurrency using your machine’s resources, Cloud9 can now act as a keylogger and capture data copied to the clipboard. It downloads malware and other malicious code from Chrome and steals cookie and session information. It can take control of your computer remotely. This allows it to launch DDoS campaigns or to start adware in the background.
The Zimperium researcher wants to reassure Internet users. This extremely harmful malware affects only a minority of you. As long as you get your extensions from the Chrome Web Store, a secure site under constant surveillance by Google, the risk of infection by Cloud9 will remain almost nil. As often, the danger comes from files from unauthenticated sources. Cloud9, for example, is bundled with fake Adobe Flash Player updates, dead and buried software that you should uninstall, if you have it on your computer.
Source: Zimperium