There were new revelations this quarter concerning complex nationstate cyberattack campaigns targeting users and enterprise systems worldwide.
With the rise in value of cryptocurrencies, the market forces are driving criminals to cryptojacking and the theft of cryptocurrency.
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New research from McAfee has revealed how cybercriminals are increasingly turning to cryptocurrency mining and cryptojacking. The report also explores the latest malware, ransomware and other threats.
CRIMINALS‘ INFECT AND COLLECT’ IN CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING SURGE
McAfee, the device-to-cloud cybersecurity company, has released its McAfee Labs Threats Report: June 2018, examining the growth and trends of new malware, ransomware and other threats in Q1 2018.
McAfee Labs saw on average five new threat samples every second, including growth in cryptojacking and other cryptocurrency mining malware, as well as notable campaigns demonstrating a deliberate drive to technically improve upon the most sophisticated established attacks of 2017.
“ There were new revelations this quarter concerning complex nationstate cyberattack campaigns targeting users and enterprise systems worldwide,” said Raj Samani, Chief Scientist at McAfee.
“ Bad actors demonstrated a remarkable level of technical agility and innovation in tools and tactics. Criminals continued to adopt cryptocurrency mining to easily monetise their criminal activity.”
Cybercriminals extended their operations in cryptojacking and other cryptocurrency mining schemes,
There were new revelations this quarter concerning complex nationstate cyberattack campaigns targeting users and enterprise systems worldwide.
With the rise in value of cryptocurrencies, the market forces are driving criminals to cryptojacking and the theft of cryptocurrency.
where perpetrators hijack victims’ browsers or infect their systems to secretly use them to mine for legitimate cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
This category of coin miner malware grew a stunning 629 % in the first quarter of 2018, rocketing from around 400,000 total known samples in Q4 2017 to more than 2.9 million the next quarter.
This suggests that cybercriminals are continuing to warm to the prospect of simply infecting users’ systems and collecting payments without having to rely on third parties to monetise their crimes.
“ Cybercriminals will gravitate to criminal activity that maximises their profit,” said Steve Grobman, Chief Technology Officer at McAfee.
“ In recent quarters we have seen a shift to ransomware from data-theft, as ransomware is a more efficient crime. With the rise in value of cryptocurrencies, the market forces are driving criminals to cryptojacking and the theft of cryptocurrency. Cybercrime is a business and market forces will continue to shape where adversaries focus their efforts.”
Security incidents
McAfee Labs counted 313 publicly disclosed security incidents in Q1 2018, a 41 % increase over Q4. Incidents involving multiple sectors( 37) and those targeting multiple regions( 120) were the leading types of incidents in Q1. u
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