Kaspersky Lab Says Cryptojacking Cases Have Risen 400% in 2018

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Did you know there have been 13 million cryptojacking incidents
in 2018? Russian cyber-security firm Kaspersky Lab has released
data that cryptojacking cases have gone through the roof rising
400% this year alone.
Crypto-crime has been one of the most publicized issues in the
financial world this year as the popularity of digital currencies has
reached an all-time high over the past 12 months.

MALICIOUS CRYPTOJACKING PROBLEMS IN 2018
Although many crypto-fanatics might well say that the major issue
the industry has faced this year lays with the wild fluctuations of
crypto prices, Kaspersky Lab would beg to differ.
The Russian cybersecurity and anti-virus firm Kaspersky Lab is
based in Moscow and has been the source of lots of meaty
information this year in regards to crypto-crimes, and most
notably, the upsurge in cryptojacking. The company has revealed
that cases of cryptojacking have reached a gargantuan 13 million
in 2018, which is up 400% on last year’s total of 3.5 million.

Cryptojacking is a term used to describe malicious activity in
regards to cryptocurrency mining. Cryptojackers hijack the
computers of crypto users and divert the funds to their own
wallets. One of the most alarming stats is that the attacks in the
Middle East and Africa have risen fourfold on this time last year.

USING MALWARE TO JACK CRYPTO
Carjacking used to be the jacking avenue of choice for criminals,
but the world is changing and so is theft. Cryptojackers are
utilizing malware scripts to access people’s computers to mine
cryptocurrencies. Monero (XMR) is one of the main digital
currencies that is currently being targeted and jacked by crypto-
criminals.
The malware runs quietly on a user’s PC so they don’t even know
it’s happening. After a while, the script can play havoc on a PC’s
CPU power making the system run slowly, and sometimes even
damaging the computer and overloading the processor.

We reported earlier this June that Kaspersky Lab was concerned
that cybercriminals were moving from ransomware to
cryptojacking, which was one of the main reasons why
ransomware attacks had drastically dropped.
As the value of cryptocurrencies had risen at the back-end of 2017
and still remained relatively high for the first 8-months fo the year,
cybercriminals began focusing more on cryptojacking and crypto-
related crime.

The alarming figures that 13 million cryptojacking incidents have
taken place in 2018 is a massive cause for concern and needs to
be dealt with in rapid succession. Kaspersky Lab has once again
done a great job informing the industry in regards to the problems
we now face.

Source: https://www.ccn.com/