Monero (XMR) is by far the most popular cryptocurrency among criminals deploying mining malware, according to a new study.
Two researchers, Sergio Pastrana and Guillermo Suarez-Tangil, from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and King’s College London, respectively, published their report last week, estimating that hackers have mined at least 4.32 percent of the total monero in circulation.
Pastrana and Suarez-Tangil write:
“Overall, we estimate there are at least 2,218 active campaigns that have accumulated about 720K XMR (57M USD). Interestingly just a single campaign (C#623) has mined more than 163K XMR (18M USD), which accounts for about 23% of the total estimated. This campaign is still active at the time of writing."The researchers, however, are not sure whether, or what portion, of malware owners have cashed out their crypto, due to lack of information and the fluctuating prices of cryptos. At press time, the value of the XMR total cited is almost $40 million.