Symantec report: cryptocurrency coin mining increased by 8,500 percent in Q4 2017

Symantec learned from the tracking of encrypted hijacking that part of the reason for its rise was because of the ease of operation and the low threshold of mining software. It has become one of the ways many people make money. Overall, the number of escalation hijackings in 2017 rose by 34,000%.

The report pointed out that the use of other people’s computer CPU mining is easier than installing the virus on the target computer. It can even be performed after the user finishes patching the computer. Last year, the Showtime website was revealed to use user CPU to dig Monero currency. Recently, Apple removed the Calendar 2 software on the Mac App Store, which was also found to use user computers to dig Monroe coins.

Image: Symantec

Symantec said that encrypted hijacking will allow those unsuspecting victims’ devices to run slower, the batteries will overheat, and the lifespan will be shorter. When this type of attack targets a large-scale target-like enterprise network, It may be due to mining software shutdown situation, but if it is small, it is not so easy to be found. The report writes: “This allows cybercriminals to make money without victims even realizing they have something unwanted on their machine or on the website they are visiting.”

As encryption hijackers still have a lot of rewards for cryptocurrency miners, it may still be a big problem. Unless these cryptocurrency prices continue to drop until the first time in 2009, these people will naturally disappear because they are no longer profitable.

Source: theverge