Is Cryptocurrency Mining an Antidote to Ransomware?

Ransomware—once the weapon of option for many hackers—now has contest: malware that secretly mines cryptocurrency over your PC.

Thanks to the ongoing cryptocurrency craze, security experts have witnessed an explosion in cyber attacks centered on siphoning away people's computing power to generate virtual currencies.

In recent months, the assaults have been targeting servers and Windows PCs for businesses and consumers. But the attacks may have an upside: some hackers appear to exist shelving their ransomware schemes in favor of cryptocurrency mining.

"Nosotros definitely saw a significant decrease in a lot of ransomware being used in the second half of terminal twelvemonth," said Adam Kujawa, a director of malware intelligence at the security firm Malwarebytes. "At that place'due south been a huge shift in tactics."

Ransomware vs. Mining

A large reason for the change comes down to economics; for cybercriminals, mining cryptocurrency can potentially generate more than cash than infecting machines with ransomware.

Security researchers at Cisco Talos have been tracking several lucrative mining-based malware attacks. By secretly hijacking hundreds, and possibly thousands of machines, the hackers have been able to harness all that computing power to mine a cryptocurrency known as Monero, which is now worth between $200 to $300 a coin.

A single day of mining may only amount to $500. Merely what about a whole year? Several of these attacks have already amassed enough calculating ability to mine effectually $200,000 in Monero, co-ordinate to Cisco Talos. (Other security firms have uncovered campaigns that tin raise millions per twelvemonth.)

Contrast that with ransomware attacks, which involve infecting a figurer, encrypting all the data inside, and and then threatening to delete it unless the victim pays up. A successful assault can demand anywhere from $one,000 to 10 times that amount, or even more than. Merely the scheme only works if the victim chooses to give in.

"It's a cost benefit analysis for them (the hackers)," said Nick Biasini, a researcher with Cisco Talos.

To be sure, ransomware attacks are still popular in the cybercrime world; hackers proceed to prey on infirmary, schoolhouse, and government computers. Just organizations have likewise smartened upwards and bolstered their systems against such attacks with improve security software or backups, giving hackers fewer targets to hitting, Biasini said.

Shifting Tactics

The other problem is that ransomware can be noisy and describe the attention of law enforcement or even world governments, like the WannaCry ransomware outbreak did last year. In comparison, a mining assail "is almost the polar opposite," Biasini said. "This is designed to run silently in the groundwork, slowly generating acquirement, as opposed to a i-fourth dimension lump sum of money," he said.

Hackers appear to be dropping mining malware onto PCs and servers, Biasini said, but another pop tactic is to hijack a website and include a cryptocurrency miner in the lawmaking. If you visit these sites, the miner will secretly run over your browser and steal your PC's computing power.

The hijacking has now spilled over into Chrome extensions and YouTube ads. The more computers the miner can hitting, the more digital currency it can potentially generate.

What does this hateful for victims? Expect your PC'southward fan to kick into high gear. All that mining can drag down your computer'southward operation, and trigger an uptick in your electric bill. Information technology's certainly annoying and prolonged mining tin can degrade your machine's hardware. But compared with a ransomware infection—which tin agree your files hostage and delete them away—the mining has an upside: information technology's far less destructive.

The Lesser of Two Evils?

"You're leeching instead of stabbing," said Chris Vickery, managing director of cyber risk research at the security firm UpGuard. "You're sucking a little bit of blood instead of bleeding them dry out."

Ironically, the mining attacks may exist an unconventional antidote to the ransomware threat. Before this calendar week, Vickery tweeted the security customs should "spread word" to malware writers over the merits of adopting mining-based attacks.

"I'm not saying the hacking should be taking place," he said. "Just it's kind of a good matter that in that location will be less harm done overall."

That doesn't mean PC owners should tolerate the mining. No 1, particularly businesses, want to run into a drain on their computing resources. Just hackers who have successfully infected a estimator with a miner usually have the capability to install other malicious code on to the system, including ransomware.

"You can't discount any malware," said Malwarebyte's Adam Kujawa. "A lot of times yous will have i primary infection, and they may go on calculation more."

Other experts say cybercriminals aren't necessarily picking one scheme over another; they can become with both. Or in other words: the worst of both worlds.

"Cryptocurrency mining is past all means the electric current weapon of pick for numerous threat actors," Maya Horowitz, threat intelligence group director at Check Bespeak, said in an email. "However, we do not come across a decrease in ransomware attacks."

PCMag has a guide on how you can protect your business organization from cryptocurrency mining attacks. Browsers and anti-virus software can besides cake the threat.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/news/19422/is-cryptocurrency-mining-an-antidote-to-ransomware

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