Microsoft Report says Nation-State Hacker Group is Leveraging Cryptocurrency Techniques to Stay Under the Radar

A new security report by Microsoft says nation-state hacker group Bismuth is now deploying cryptocurrency-mining malware alongside its regular cyber-espionage toolkits. According to the report, the deployment by Bismuth of Monero coin miners in recent campaigns has provided another way for the attackers to monetize compromised networks.

However, according to a Microsoft security report, since “cryptocurrency miners are typically associated with cybercriminal operations, not sophisticated nation-state actor activity.” The report says: Although the Microsoft security report acknowledges that Bismuth’s use of coin miners was unexpected, the strategy remains “consistent with the group’s longtime methods of blending in.”.

Timeline of Monero