Crypto Miners Overtake Ransomware

Kaspersky Labs has released a new cybersecurity report which states that there has been a significant decline in the amount of ransomware targeting Internet users as compared to the growing increase of cryptojacking.

The Kaspersky Labs’ reports aims to answer the question: “But if ransomware no longer wears the threat crown, what is the new king?” According to them, crypto miners gained popularity due to their “discreet and modest way to make money by exploiting users”:

“Instead of the large one-off payout achieved with ransomware, cybercriminals employing mining as a tactic can benefit from an inconspicuous, stable and continuous flow of funds.”

The report compares data from April-March 2017 with data from April-March 2018. Its findings are that the total number of users recorded, saw a 30 percent loss in the amount of ransomware they encountered, and a 45 percent gain in the amount of crypto miner attacks. Which means that the amount of Internet users in the study affected by crypto mining is around 2.7 million?

McAfee Labs released another cybersecurity report this week which claimed that the use of cryptojacking malware rose 629 percent in the first quarter of 2018, compared to the previous quarter.

The total number of detected cyber threats, according to the Kaspersky Labs report, increased from 3 to 4 percent, and the share of miners in the overall risk tool detection rose from 5 to almost 8 percent.

The report also highlights that the “most remarkable ransomware trends” of the last year were WannaCry and Badrabbit, new kinds of ransomware that asked for Bitcoin (BTC) in return for unlocking infected computers.

Cryptojacking events are a common occurrence all over the world, with police in Japan investigating a case involving crypto mining malware in June, and a new type of “snobbish” cryptojacking malware infecting half a million computers globally in just three days this May.