Crypto-jacking "the new flame" among the crypto-criminals

With the rise of the blockchain technology, we have seen the birth of a new type of cybercrime – crypto-jacking. In Sweden, this new scheme is currently enjoying a worrying growth as more and more electronic devices are getting attacked by hackers.

According to cybersecurity firm Symantec, the number of cyber security threats, as well as the number of methods to access data illegally, exploit computer power and extort money is steadily increasing.

However, the pace at which this new type of cybercrime is growing is phenomenal. Fueled by the massive growth of cryptocurrencies since mid-2017, the number of crypto-jacking cases went up by 10,000 percent in the last quarter 2017.

Crypto-jacking is basically the process of using the computation power of a person’s device to mine cryptocurrencies without their consent. This is mainly done to mine coins like Monero and Bytecoin, which are more CPU-friendly.

A file or script, known as ‘coinminer’, is used by hackers to mine cryptocurrencies with the victims’ devices. This type of crime is as lucrative as it is hard to detect, as the victim is not enduring any immediate loss and in most cases won’t even notice that their computer is being used, other than it feeling slower than usual.

Cyber-criminals are even targeting large enterprise rigs to mine cryptocurrencies, as was the case with the hijacking of Tesla’s cloud environment. Other companies like Aviva and Gemalta have also become victims of such crimes last year.

Source: Finance Magnates

Original post: Sweden Sees Surge of Cybercrime with Crypto-Jacking Cases up 10,000%

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