Minr Cryptojacking

The Minr Cryptojacking refers to the use of Minr, a crypto-currency mining tool, to take over the victims' computers to mine cryptocurrency. Minr is in the top five most popular methods used to carry out these tactics currently. Minr is based on JavaScript and can affect any Web browser, meaning that it can reach anyone visiting the targeted computer. In most cases, Minr's scripts are obfuscated and inserted into WordPress themes, in an attempt to reach victims through inexperienced website creators installing themes from dubious sources. Minr has been associated with more than one thousand websites currently. Because of this, it is important for both website creators and computer users to take steps against these threats. Minr has been associated with a high-profile attack on Wikipedia.

Minr Obfuscates Itself to Work without Being Detected

Minr uses obfuscation through a free program known as JJEncode. Open source resources like this one have been the basis for many crypto-jacking attacks, including the Minr attacks. Minr attacks have involved third-party domains such as Web.clod[.]pw and Stati[.]bid, which will load the Minr scripts. The main symptom of Minr cryptojacking is that the affected computers will have their CPUs load affected. The affected computer will consume more electricity, and overheat possibly. It is likely that videos and images will fail to load and pages will take much longer than normal to load. Essentially, Minr cryptojacking will use the affected computer's resources to mine crypto-currency, making it slow and unresponsive since all of its resources will be used by the Minr tactic. Malware researchers have associated the Minr attacks with the following domains:

cnt.statistic[.]date
cdn.static-cnt[.]bid
ad.g-content[.]bid
cdn.jquery-uim[.]download

Protecting Yourself from Minr Cryptojacking

Cryptocurrency has attracted a lot of attention in the last year, and with the processing power gained from Minr, the cybercriminals can make quite a lot of money. Because of this, it is crucial to take precautions. There are several legitimate Web browser add-ons that can block crypto-miners and tactics like Minr cryptojacking. Many security programs with real-time screening also can protect computer users from tactics like Minr cryptojacking, blocking domains associated with these tactics or preventing unsafe or unwanted scripts from running on the affected Web browsers. Since these tactics often rely on attacking websites to install unwanted scripts and then affect the visitors, it has become even more necessary for website administrators to take precautions against these tactics. Corrupted WordPress themes and add-ons are a common source for these infections. Poor security protection such as weak passwords also can result in crypto-jacking, as well as problems with other online tactics, such as ransomware Trojans or more threatening malware. Computer users can protect their computers taking basic online precautions and competent security software.

Minr and Wikipedia

Minr has received attention because it has been linked to a problem with a Wikipedia article. On February 2nd, a Wikipedia editor added a link to a third-party website that happened to be infected with a script related to Minr. It seemed that the intention was not to carry out a direct attack on Wikipedia, and the fact that the website was affected by Minr was merely a coincidence. Attacks like Minr cryptojacking and other crypto-currency mining tactics will often take advantage of WordPress themes and other vulnerabilities, resulting in innocent websites being used to spread these tactics and generate revenue for the attacks.