{"id":12962,"date":"2019-03-12T08:46:52","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T12:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/cryptojacking-rsa2019\/12962\/"},"modified":"2019-11-15T15:22:25","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T11:22:25","slug":"cryptojacking-rsa2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/cryptojacking-rsa2019\/12962\/","title":{"rendered":"Rise of the cryptojackers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cryptojacking is the unauthorized use of someone else\u2019s computer to mine cryptocurrency. Put simply, it is malicious mining. Cybercriminals use various surreptitious means to install miner programs on other people\u2019s computers (preferably in bulk), and take all of the profit from cryptocurrency mining without incurring any of the equipment or electricity costs.<\/p>\n

If you are not familiar with cryptojacking<\/a>, now is the perfect time to read up on it. Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n

Explosive growth in cryptojacking<\/h2>\n

Logically, you might think that the fall in cryptocurrency values should have led to a decline in cryptojacking, because there is less profit to be had from it. But quite the opposite happened. At RSA Conference 2019, Cisco Umbrella analysts reported that the volume of cryptomining-related corporate traffic worldwide had increased about 200-fold during the year! This is a direct result of the rise of cryptojacking.<\/p>\n

Most likely, it is because during the boom years people grew used to high yields from cryptomining. But after the market sank, and using one\u2019s own equipment and electricity for mining became unprofitable, some decided to switch to a less-honest alternative \u2014 cryptojacking.<\/p>\n

Who suffers the most from cryptojacking?<\/h2>\n

The main damage from cryptojacking is felt by small and medium-size businesses \u2014 the former account for about one-third of cryptomining traffic, the latter one-half. Enterprises\u2019 share of the pain is just 18%, presumably because big business is more serious-minded about information security, whereas SMBs have a more relaxed attitude.<\/p>\n

The distribution of cryptomining traffic by industry is interesting: In first place is the energy sector (34%), followed by education (26%) and healthcare (7%).<\/p>\n

Cisco Umbrella statistics indicate that cryptojackers\u2019 main target was North America: The US accounted for 62% of cryptomining traffic, with another 2% from Canada. EMEA is in second position with a more modest 6%. The biggest surprise was South Africa with around 2% of mining-related traffic, enough for third place.<\/p>\n

How to protect against cryptojacking<\/h2>\n

Never underestimate the damage that cryptojacking can cause. Sure, malicious mining is far less destructive than ransomware. But the losses are direct \u2014 victims have to pay for computing power and electricity, which can translate into considerable sums.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, the very fact that some kind of illegal activity is being carried out on your company\u2019s computers is not good news. It means your IT infrastructure has vulnerabilities. Today, they are being exploited for cryptojacking, but when that business becomes less lucrative, they will be put to some other purpose.<\/p>\n