Microsoft has recently identified Vitemanese government-backed hackers to be deploying cryptocurrency-mining malware alongside their usual cyber-espionage toolkits.
The report by Microsoft highlights a growing trend in cyber-security where an increasing number of state-funded hacking groups are trying their hand at regular cybercrime operations, making it harder to distinguish intelligence-gathering operations from financially motivated crime.
The Vietnamese group, identified by Microsoft as Bismuth, has been active since 2012 and is better known by other code names such as APT32 and OceanLotus.