Hackers use the “Spider-Man: No Way Home” movie to spread malware

The torrent file was most likely created on one of the Russian sites and aimed at the hidden mining of cryptocurrencies

25.12.2021 - 07:15

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What’s new? The cybercriminals are trying to take advantage of the massive public interest in the movie “Spider-Man: No Way Home” by embedding cryptocurrency mining malware in the pirated copies of the movie that are distributed on torrent sites. This is stated in a recent report by ReasonLabs, a company specializing in cybersecurity.

The ReasonLabs company report

How did the problem get noticed? The company discovered a torrent file, spiderman_net_putidomoi.torrent.exe, which was most likely created on one of the Russian torrent sites. It is an open source malware for mining the Monero cryptocurrency. Compared to ransomware, hidden cryptocurrency mining is relatively harmless. However, the process significantly slows down the victim's computer, resulting in increased CPU load. At the same time, the unsuspecting user will receive a hefty power bill.

What other risks does pirated content pose? The hackers usually try to cash in on the hype surrounding the release of major movies. Earlier, the Kaspersky cybersecurity company found that 13% of the streaming and downloaded Marvel “Black Widow” movies were accompanied by attempts to infect other users' devices with malware.

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