Stealthy Crypto Malware Found in Popular Super Mario Game – Here's the Latest

cryptonews.com:

Hackers are using a resurgence in popularity around the Super Mario Bros. franchise to sneak stealthy crypto malware onto unsuspecting gamers’ personal computers.As reported by Cyble Research & Intelligence Labs on Friday, a legitimate installer for the fan-made game “Super Mario 3: Mario Forever” secretely includes “an XMR miner, SupremeBot mining client, and the Open-source Umbral stealer,” on top of the actual game. 

“The social engineering tactics that TAs use exploit users’ trust and entice them to download and run malicious game installers,” wrote Syble. “The large file size and games’ complexity provide TAs opportunities to hide malware within them.”Mario Forever is a 2004 sidescroller featuring dozens of free levels that emulate the feeling of main series mario games. It’s been downloaded at least 17 million times, according to a CNET downloads listing for the game.

The first program within the malicious installer – a Monero (XMR) miner – can be especially effective when infecting gamers’ PCs, since their powerful computer hardware is exactly what’s needed to mine several popular cryptocurrencies. Hackers can exploit such energy intensive resources to produce crypto in blockchain addresses that they control, all at their victims’ expense. 

XMR in particular is designed as a privacy coin, meaning its transactions aren’t easily tracked on the blockchain like Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH). Many exchanges have banned XMR at regulators’ orders to prevent criminals from using those coins for laundering money or cashing out proceeds.

Meanwhile, Cyble describes the accompanying Umbral Stealer as a “lightweight and efficient information stealer."which can take private information including passwords, webcam images, and even