A new version of Gafgyt, a botnet that subsequently became idle, is now recuperating by logging into SSH servers with bare passwords and then using servers’ GPUs for Cryptocurrency mining. This is a new form of strategy from the botnet, as before, it mainly focussed on the IoT devices. Gafgyt standards show how criminals evolve in search of new tricks and opportunities to get the most out of their threatening operations. As for the targets with weak SSH credentials, this botnet will be able to penetrate powerful machines with GPU to mine bitcoins. This development is a clear omen to organizations that have allied their operations on cloud-based infrastructure. Besides being a significant load on the computational resources, it might also affect the functioning of the system, GPU mining is an energyintensive process. In order to guard against this risk, the organizations must ensure strong passwords and consistently patch systems with updated security releases and intrusion detection and prevention systems. Above all, scanning for network traffic is also effective in detecting possible compromises. Hence, the future prospects for cryptocurrency mining are quite promising, and so are the tricks enemies of the states will use. Being proactive when it comes to security and looking for hazards and threats actively is the only way to protect systems and data from these emerging threats.
