Cryptojacking attacks by cybercriminal groups to infiltrate networks and secretly mine coins have increased dramatically. By 2022, Quick Heal, which is growing at a notable 37% per year, has detected 14.3 million such attacks. Large-scale cryptojacking is quickly emerging as a popular trend in cybercriminal scenarios.
Explore and learn how to protect your digital life from the growing cyberthreat: cryptojacking.
What is Cryptojacking?
As a legitimate activity, coin mining is a hobby for many people, but problems arise when users use deceptive methods to gain illegal profits. Systems at risk can be anything starting with: website, PC, mobile, server or cloud infrastructure. Cryptojacking usually happens through trojans, but recently hackers use tactics like ransomware and infected websites to get others to mine cryptocurrency illegally.
Simply put, cryptojacking is the practice of hijacking someone’s computing resources without their consent in order to mine cryptocurrency.
How can I tell if I’ve been cryptojacked?
This activity usually takes place in the background where unsuspecting victims are targeted while using their devices. However, here are 5 signs that your system is compromised.
- slow system performance
- execution delay
- device overheating
- excessive power consumption
- Unusually high cost of cloud computing
How can I prevent cryptojacking?
As a business, it is important that your website does not host cryptocurrency mining files. And here are 5 simple ways to keep your digital world safe from cryptojacking as a user.
5 Ways to Stay Safe from Cryptojacking
- Be vigilant and do not open or reply to questionable emails, texts or links. It could be a phishing message from a miner.
- Use an ad blocker as pop-ups may contain malicious code to gain access to your device.
- Connect to a VPN to surf safely, as public Wi-Fi allows cybercriminals an easy entry point to hack your personal devices.
- Install genuine antivirus software that can predict, detect and prevent all fraudulent activity on your device.
- Monitor and always investigate any unusual performance of your device in terms of speed or utility bills.
conclusion
You can learn more about emerging threat trends in our 2022 Annual Threat Report. In the meantime, staying safe from rogue agents like these starts with you and the proactive use of CyberSecurity solutions. Protect your digital world with trusted software.