What is cryptojacking and how does it work? How to avoid becoming a victim of hidden mining?

Cryptodocumentation – secret mining of cryptocurrency, in recent months, at first rapidly gained popularity, and then even managed to slightly go out of fashion, returning the palm to traditional extortionate viruses. However, it is too early to relax: this threat is still relevant.

We bring to your attention a translation of the article by Marty Puranik, founder and CEO of Atlantic.Net, who shares tips on how not to become a victim of cryptodikeking.

Cryptojacking is the process of unauthorized use of someone else's computers for mining cryptocurrencies . It is not associated with installing spyware or adware, and in this case there is no theft of information from your system. Such software steals computing power for its own purposes, and it is not so easy to detect.

How it works?

Hackers use old phishing methods to force users to click on links, as a result of which mining code is downloaded for cryptocurrency. The most popular and effective way is to infect a site with code that is executed independently when the page is loaded by the browser.

However, the power of individual computers is not enough for effective mining. That's why hackers are targeting cloud services.

Cryptojacking against cloud services

Large companies are the main targets for cryptodocking, because they have cloud resources. Hackers choose those cloud services that have weak spots. Surprisingly, some do not even need a password to enter the system!

Studies show that 49% of databases located in the cloud are not encrypted. Using scanners, hackers are looking for a weak cloud environment on the Internet. So, they can get metadata from public cloud APIs.

And what, so minit Bitcoin?

No, the oldest cryptocurrency in the world is best protected from cryptodikeking. Why?

Because the blockchain technology implements public and monitored records of all transactions. That is, illegal mining on other people's equipment can easily be computed by the community. Therefore, hackers prefer coins with increased anonymity that are difficult to track, such as Zcash or Monero .

How to protect data centers from cryptodikeking?

There is no magic pill. The easiest answer is to take care of the correct configuration of the equipment so as not to attract cybercriminals. Businesses should change the basic settings offered by cloud nodes. Cloud environments and containers should also be configured correctly so as not to expose data to risk.

In February 2018, Tesla reported that it suffered greatly from cryptodikeking. In a company of this magnitude, the overrun of computing power was not noticed. Data centers that do not want to fall into this trap should adjust the parameters so that when the expected levels of electrical power consumption and hashrate are exceeded, an alert will be triggered. This will allow to detect and stop unauthorized mining.

findings

Despite the fact that cryptodocking is a relatively new phenomenon in the world of cybercrime, it quickly gained momentum because of its simplicity and rather high yield. Enterprises that do not control their own security and elementary do not monitor energy consumption, risk becoming victims of intruders.