26 Sep 2018 Arjun Agarwal
McAfee: Crypto Mining Malware Attacks On the Rise
Since the end of 2017, crypto mining threats are marking a significant surge of 86%. The attacks are primarily targeted at PCs, but according to the report, crypto hackers have spread their threats to smartphones and other Internet devices.
In most cases, the victims are not randomly selected. For example, in one case a crypto mining malware was disguised as a gaming mod. Gamers on a Russian forum downloaded the software, which in turn started using their computer resources for making a crypto profit.
In the past, the possibility of hacking internet routers and other Internet devices remained low due to their low CPU power. Today, these devices attract many hackers because of their enormous choice and the use of weak passwords.
After the rise of the crypto mining malware, ransomware decreased by 32% while crypto-mining malware increased by 629%. In its report, McAfee emphasizes that software updates and patches should be applied to minimize the possibility of cyberattacks.
The company and the Advanced Threat Research team found a flaw in Cortana, the voice assistant of Microsoft Windows 10. In June, Microsoft released a patch to protect its users.
Mobile Research Team found a fraud campaign of at least 15 applications on Google Play. The hackers are called The AsiaHitGroup, and they have been active since the end of 2016. The group spreads fake installer applications like Sonvpay. A, trying to trick more than 200,000 users mainly from Thailand and Malaysia.
Malwarebytes did a similar report recently concluding that illegal crypto mining activity was lower in the second quarter of 2018, compared to the first quarter of the year. The Malwarebytes announced that while NotPetya and WannaCry ransomware have not been reported yet, the SamSam and VPNFilter malware could change the results at the end of the year.
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