Cryptojacking, Modern Cash Cow

Symantec Threat Intelligence – Cryptojacking, Modern Cash Cow

Symantec reports that one of the biggest cyber security trends of 2018 is cryptojacking, where cyber criminals surreptitiously run coinminers on victims’ devices without their knowledge. Cryptojacking uses a person’s central processing unit (CPU) power to mine cryptocurrencies.

Cryptojacking is so pervasive a trend this year that Symantec has published a research paper on this topic, which you can read here, featuring insights and analysis about this cybersecurity threat.

Cryptojacking surged in the last quarter of 2017, with its growth in popularity coinciding with a surge in the value of cryptocurrencies, including Monero, which is what is mainly mined by CPU miners.

Key points in our research include:
• The greatest surge in activity was in the area of browser-based coinminers.
• Cryptojacking activity peaked in December 2017, with more than 8 million cryptojacking events blocked by Symantec. We have seen a slight fall in activity in 2018, but cryptojacking events blocked in July 2018 still totaled just less than 5 million.
• Primary effects of cryptojacking include: device slowdown; overheating batteries; increased energy consumption; devices becoming unusable; and reduction in productivity.

To read the full Threat Intelligence Report please go to: https://www.symantec.com/blogs/threat-intelligence/cryptojacking-modern-cash-cow

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