EU Supercomputers Hijacked From COVID-19 Research to Mine Cryptocurrency

European supercomputers programmed to search for a vaccine for COVID-19 were remotely hijacked last week for the purpose of mining cryptocurrency.

According to a report by ZDNet, multiple supercomputers across the European Union were compromised by a string of malware attacks that required a shutdown after it was discovered they were being used for crypto mining – also known as cryptojacking. The hackers had gained entry via stolen SSH (remote access) credentials from individuals authorized to operate the machines.

Security researcher Chris Doman, co-founder of Cado Security, told ZDNet the malware was designed to use the supercomputers’ processing power to mine monero (XMR). It is also believed a number of the compromised supercomputers were being used to prioritize research for a coronavirus vaccine, although details surrounding the hacks and the computer’s purpose appear to have been left deliberately vague.

Security incident reports came from Germany, the U.K. and…