Crypto-Mining Hits 42% Of Organisations Worlwide

Cyber-criminals are aggressively targeting organisations using crypto-mining malware to develop illegal revenue streams, according to Check Point. Meanwhile, cloud infrastructures appear to be the growing target among threat actors.

Between January and June 2018, the number of organisations impacted by crypto-mining malware doubled to 42%, compared to 20.5% in the second half of 2017.

Crypto-mining malware enables cybercriminals to hijack the victim’s CPU or GPU power and existing resources to mine crypto-currency, using as much as 65% of the end-user’s CPU power. The top three most common malware variants seen in H1 2018 were all crypto-miners.

In a new trend, Check Point detected an increasing number of attacks targeting cloud infrastructures. With organisations moving more of their IT estates and data to cloud environments, criminals are turning to the cloud to exploit its vast computational power and multiply their profits.

“The first half of this year saw criminals continue the trend we observed at the end of 2017, and take full advantage of stealthy crypto-mining malware to maximise their revenues. We’ve also seen increasingly sophisticated attacks against cloud infrastructures and multi-platform environments emerging.

“These multi-vector, fast-moving, large-scale Gen V attacks are becoming more and more frequent, and organisations need to adopt a multi-layered cybersecurity strategy that prevents these attacks from taking hold of their networks and data,” said Maya Horowitz, Threat Intelligence Group Manager at Check Point.

Crypto-currency miners evolve

In 2018, crypto-miners have been upgraded with vastly improved capabilities, becoming more sophisticated and even destructive. Motivated by a clear interest to increase the percentage of computational resources leveraged and be even more profitable, crypto-miners today target anything that could be perceived as being in their way.

Crypto-miners have also highly evolved recently to exploit high profile vulnerabilities and to evade sandboxes and security products in order to expand their infection rates.

Hackers move to the cloud

So far this year, there have been a number of sophisticated techniques and tools exploited against cloud storage services.

Several cloud-based attacks, mainly those involving data exfiltration and information disclosure, derived from poor security practices, including credentials left available on public source code repositories or the use of weak passwords.

Crypto-miners are also, targeting cloud infrastructures to exploit its computational power and multiply profits for threat actors.

Multi-platform attacks on the rise

Up until the end of 2017, multi-platform malware was rare. However, the rise in the number of consumer connected devices and the growing market share of non-Windows operating systems has led to an increase in cross-platform malware. Campaign operators implement various techniques in order to take control over the campaigns’ different infected platforms.

Mobile malware spread via the supply chain

In the first half of this year, there has been several incidences where mobile malware that has not been downloaded from a malicious URL, but instead arrived already installed within the device. In addition, there was an increase in applications readily available on app stores that were actually malware under disguise, including Banking Trojans, Adware and sophisticated remote access Trojans (RATs).

Top Crypto-miners during H1 2018

1. Coinhive (30%) – A crypto-miner designed to perform online mining of the Monero crypto-currency without the user’s approval when a user visits a web page. Coinhive only emerged in September 2017 but has hit 12% of organizations worldwide hit by it.

2. Cryptoloot (23%) – A JavaScript Crypto-miner, designed to perform online mining of Monero crypto-currency when a user visits a web page without the user’s approval.

3. JSEcoin (17%) – Web-based Crypto miner designed to perform online mining of Monero crypto-currency when a user visits a web page without the user’s approval.

Top ransomware during H1 2018

1. Locky (40%) – Ransomware that spreads mainly via spam emails containing a downloader, disguised as a Word or Zip attachment, before installing malware that encrypts the user files.

2. WannaCry (35%) – Ransomware that was spread in a large scale attack in May 2017, utilizing a Windows SMB exploit called EternalBlue, in order to propagate within and between networks.

3. Globeimposter (8%) – Distributed by spam campaigns, malvertising and exploit kits. Upon encryption, the ransomware appends the .crypt extension to each encrypted file.

Top mobile malware during H1 2018

1. Triada (51%) – A Modular Backdoor for Android which grants super-user privileges to downloaded malware, as it helps it to get embedded into system processes. Triada has also been seen spoofing URLs loaded in the browser.

2. Lokibot (19%) – A mobile banking Trojan which targets Android smartphones and turns into a Ransomware, upon an attempt of the victim trying to remove its admin privileges.

3. Hidad (10%) – Android malware which repackages legitimate apps and then releases them to a third-party store. It is able to gain access to key security details built into the OS, allowing an attacker to obtain sensitive user data.

Top banking malware during H2 2017

1. Ramnit (29%) – A banking Trojan that steals banking credentials, FTP passwords, session cookies and personal data.

2. Dorkbot (22%) – A banking Trojan which steals the victim’s credentials using web-injects, activated as the user tries to login to their banking website.

3. Zeus (14%) – A Trojan that targets Windows platforms and often uses them to steal banking information by man-in-the-browser keystroke logging and form grabbing.

HelpNetSecurity

You Might Also Read: 

Criminal Web-Injects Can Steal Cryptocurrency:

Crypto-Mining Is A Growing Epidemic:

 

« EU Cybersecurity Act Could Impact Cross-Border Data Flows
Quantum Computing Is Becoming Reality »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

MIRACL

MIRACL

MIRACL provides the world’s only single step Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) which can replace passwords on 100% of mobiles, desktops or even Smart TVs.

CSI Consulting Services

CSI Consulting Services

Get Advice From The Experts: * Training * Penetration Testing * Data Governance * GDPR Compliance. Connecting you to the best in the business.

CYRIN

CYRIN

CYRIN® Cyber Range. Real Tools, Real Attacks, Real Scenarios. See why leading educational institutions and companies in the U.S. have begun to adopt the CYRIN® system.

Clayden Law

Clayden Law

Clayden Law advise global businesses that buy and sell technology products and services. We are experts in information technology, data privacy and cybersecurity law.

Syxsense

Syxsense

Syxsense brings together endpoint management and security for greater efficiency and collaboration between IT management and security teams.

Italian Association of Critical Infrastructure Experts (AIIC)

Italian Association of Critical Infrastructure Experts (AIIC)

AIIC acts as a focal point in Italy for expertise on the protection of Critical Infrastructure including ICT networks and cybersecurity.

Japan Network Security Association (JNSA)

Japan Network Security Association (JNSA)

JNSA's goal is to promote standardization related to network security and to contribute to greater technological standards in the field.

FaceFirst

FaceFirst

FaceFirst provide face recognition technology solutions to detect and deter real time threats,

FixMeStick

FixMeStick

FixMeStick is a virus removal device, a USB key that removes malware conventional antivirus software often can’t detect.

TechGuard Security

TechGuard Security

TechGuard Security was founded to address national cyber defense initiatives and US critical infrastructure security.

VNT Software

VNT Software

VNT's vision is to change the way complex IT problems are resolved by predicting business disruptions before they occur.

Destel

Destel

Destel is a system integrator and provider of IT services focused on Advanced Network & Security Solutions.

The Security Company (TSC)

The Security Company (TSC)

The Security Company is a leading provider of creative employee security awareness programmes.

SixThirty CYBER

SixThirty CYBER

SixThirty is a venture fund that invests in early-stage enterprise technology companies from around the world building FinTech, InsurTech, and Cybersecurity solutions.

Amadeus Capital Partners

Amadeus Capital Partners

Amadeus Capital Partners offers over 20 years’ experience in technology investment. Our areas of focus include AI & machine learning and cyber security.

Research Institute in Secure Hardware and Embedded Systems (RISE)

Research Institute in Secure Hardware and Embedded Systems (RISE)

The UK Research Institute in Secure Hardware and Embedded Systems (RISE) seeks to identify and address key issues that underpin our understanding of Hardware Security.

Keysight Technologies

Keysight Technologies

Keysight is dedicated to providing tomorrow’s test technologies today, enabling our customers to connect and secure the world with their innovations.

Deeper Network

Deeper Network

Deeper Network represents the world's first decentralized blockchain network for building a truly private, secure and fair Internet.

Searchlight Security

Searchlight Security

Searchlight Security is a leading darknet intelligence company. Working with law enforcement, industry, and end users to help protect society against the threats of the darknet.

Superus Careers - Cyber Career Exchange

Superus Careers - Cyber Career Exchange

The Cyber Career Exchange is a specialized recruiting platform focused specifically on cybersecurity.

Unisys

Unisys

Unisys is a global information technology company providing industry-focused solutions integrated with leading-edge security to clients in the government, financial services and commercial markets.