Malicious Cryptocurrency Mining Software

Unrivalled support, expert advice, and ongoing protection to address your organisation’s cyber security. According to Vectra report, the UK’s universities are being targeted by cryptojackers because they have high bandwidth capacity networks, and they host many students on their networks who are not protected. This makes them ideal cyber-crime campaign command and control operations centres. As per the latest reports of Google, Threat Horizons report (.PDF), 86% out of compromised sample instances were used for cryptocurrency mining. In contrast, 10% were utilized to perform scans for other vulnerable instances. The global volume of cryptojacking, as stated by the report, has risen by 66.7 million USD. If we compare it with the first half of the same timeframe last year, the volume has surged 30%.

• In simple terms, cryptojacking is when a hacker slips code into a website or piece of software that uses some end users’ computing power to validate cryptocurrency transactions.
• By connecting to the same router, attackers can easily detect the weak points in a computer’s security system and intercept sensitive information.
• Taking steps to prevent it will help keep your computers healthy and avoid dropper malware exploiting them to install other even more damaging services.
• In their quest for more – free – processing power, some bad actors in the crypto mining space are redoubling their efforts.
• The problem with cryptojacking is that it’s tough for a website manager to know it’s happening — the attack affects end users, not the website itself.
• It can also result in much higher electricity bills for companies affected.
• Cryptojacking is the unauthorized use of someone else’s device to mine cryptocurrency.

According to a report from Digital Shadows, kits to get you started in cryptojacking cost as little as $30. In one campaign, hackers made as much as $10,000 per day from crypto mining.

Threat Detection Use Case: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Unfortunately, attack victims are often left with higher electricity bills and slower device performance, the latter of which can make them more susceptible to information theft, hijacking, and other subsequent cyberattacks. It is very difficult for the victim to realize if their device has been cryptojacked or not. The early sign user gets only when their processors are getting slow and taking longer time to execute any work. The code runs intricate mathematical problem on the victim’s device and sends the report directly to the server that is controlled by the hackers.

With cryptojacking, online criminals use malware to secretly use the computing resources of your system to mine cryptocurrency – which requires tremendous processing power to calculate exceptionally complex digital equations, called hashes. While the malware does not steal your data, it robs you of considerable system resources, slowing your computer’s performance and significantly increasing your energy use. Sometimes cryptocurrency mining malware is injected into your system, piggybacking on apps or running in the background hoping to go unnoticed. Other times the malware attacks via your web browser when you go to an infected website and runs as long as you are connected to that site. Unlike ransomware and other cyber threats, cryptojacking code hides on computers, mobile devices, and servers and surreptitiously uses a machine’s resources to “mine” cryptocurrencies. Most users don’t notice anything unless it severely slows down the computer’s processing speed. The word “crypto” has become unavoidable in 2022, and hackers have also made sure to co-opt it with this innovative cyber security threat.

Cryptojacking: could your PC be mining Bitcoin?

While users were browsing the website, the JavaScript would use their PC resources to mine for cryptocurrency. The visitors to the website would collectively represent the distributed group of nodes that are required to do the intensive computational work required. These properties of decentralized or distributed cryptocurrencies have led to staggering amounts of computer resources being dedicated to crypto mining internationally .

You buy a unit or fraction of a unit of the currency, called a ‘coin’, and store it in a digital ‘wallet’. In 2018,Trend Microobserved a group of hackers it called Outlaw trying to run a script in one of Trend Micro’s IoT honeypots.

Cyber security is a critical, board-level issue.

It’s also worth considering the fact that many people now deem sites that display the padlock icon as “safe”. In reality, anyone can purchase a security certificate for their website for around £30 – it’s not an objective stamp of all-round security approval, it’s just the tech needed to use HTTPS on a site. Cybercriminals are always ducking and diving to evade new security defences and to maximise their profits. A man-in-the-middle attack occurs when the hackers insert themselves between two parties who believe to be communicating with each other in complete privacy. All our consultants are qualified and experienced practitioners, and we can tailor our services for organisations of all sizes.

• The good news is that Acronis Active Protection, our machine-intelligence-powered defense, keeps your system from being compromised.
• The first step is to use an extension that blocks the most common JavaScript miners such as minerBlock and No coin, as well as ensuring that you have a good, up-to-date anti-virus software installed on your computer.
• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint leverages Intel® TDT AI-based security and Intel integrated GPU to help detect and remediate cryptojacking.
• Loapi, one form of Android malware, is known to be so aggressive it can physically damage an infected device and has been dubbed the “jack of all trades” due to the range of the illicit activities it can do.
• On an infected Android mobile device, we found that it drained the battery 104% faster compared to a phone in an idle state.

The cost of mining crypto-currency such as Monero is the cost of the computer system and the electricity to run it. By installing malware that contains https://www.tokenexus.com/ mining software, criminals can essentially print money by using someone else’s computer and electricity bill to mine their crypto-currency.

Cryptojacking Attacks

By clicking on any malicious link sent via email, it loads the cryptomining code on the device directly, and once the code has been installed, hacker starts working while staying in the background of the system. The decentralized operation of many cryptocurrencies make it possible for transacting parties to exchange value independently of central financial institutions such as banks and clearing houses. But in the process it makes it substantially slower, considerably less energy efficient and it drains your battery – all to make money for cybercriminals. Organizations can make a list of URL/IPs of infected cryptojacking sites and domains of crypto-mining pools to block. They can also implement network system monitoring to identify excessive resource usage.

Botnets, servers andcontent delivery systems appear to be the most lucrative attacks so far, and it’s no surprise as these can then spread the code to potentially thousands of sites without the need to attack them individually. The advice is that you should never pay any ransom requests and it’s good to see that this advice has been taken onboard. But are criminals now looking to utilise attacks that provide a more reliable and steady source of income?

Microsoft and Intel enhance Cryptojacking protection

Ransomware incidents have risen by 105% to a whopping 623.3 million attacks in the year leading up to the report, including withering double and triple extortion attacks. These attacks are becoming more popular in the U.K and businesses need to start taking action to avoid problems. Frustrated by the high-security levels in big companies, hackers have started targeting small businesses. In the UK, one SME is hacked What is cryptojacking every 19 seconds, with the average cost for a data breach for SMEs standing around £16.1k. A robust cyber security culture, reinforced by regular training, will ensure that every employee recognises cyber security as their responsibility. Cyber attacks can cost organisations billions of pounds and cause severe damage. Impacted organisations stand to lose sensitive data and face fines and reputational damage.

Although termed “currency”, their use as legal tender in the traditional sense has been extremely limited and very much secondary to date to their use as a speculative asset for investment. Many cryptocurrencies are best viewed currently at least as a form of traded stock or investment scheme rather than a currency and are subject to significant volatility in value.

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And it can very profitable – at time of publication a mined block earned 12.5 Bitcoin, or roughly £77,500. A cryptojacker doesn’t steal your data or raid your bank accounts, but rather hijacks your PC to make crypto-cash for the cybercriminals. And we’ve found it has a massive effect on its speed, battery life and energy use. According to an Enisa report, there was a 30% year-on-year increase in the number of cryptojacking incidents in 2020. This was a collection of JavaScript files offering website owners a means to earn money from their visitors. In March 2019, Coinhive ended its services forever, but other versions still exist on the internet.

Author: Annie Nova