Unmasking The Silent Threat Of Cryptojacking

Uploaded on 2023-09-25 in NEWS-Cybersecurity News, FREE TO VIEW

It felt like there was no end in sight for businesses when it came to ransomware attacks. The number of attacks has been soaring year on year since 2020 and every day a major company would be attacked. This led to the positive benefit of global education on cybersecurity and best practices, contributing to ransomware falling a staggering 41% in the last year, according to the latest threat update from SonicWall.

While hackers are pivoting away from ransomware, that doesn't mean the danger is over, as new malware has risen up to take the top spot; cryptojacking.

What Is Cryptojacking?

Cryptojacking is the process of criminals infecting unsuspecting devices, turning them into ‘zombies’, using their processing power to mine for cryptocurrency, with the user never the wiser.

According to the latest, most authoritative data, cryptojacking volume in the first half of 2023 reached 332.3 million, an increase of 399% year-to-date. It has specifically affected Europe, which saw a 788% rise in cryptojacking incidents, signalling that something needs to be done to better protect European businesses. The dangers this poses are twofold.

Firstly, businesses that are victim to cryptojacking will unknowingly have their resources syphoned off, leading to slower processing power, as well as potentially increased energy bills.

The more prominent risk, however, is that the malware can then move across all devices on the network (servers, cloud infrastructures and software supply chains) showing how much effect it can have from just one access point.

Once a range of systems are at risk, the biggest issue is the longevity in that it will remain the system while continuing to be a drain on resources.

Cryptojacking is so often deployed due to its silent but deadly nature. All this happens while the user sits unaware of the uses their device is put to, the only indicator they may have that they have fallen victim to cryptojacking is by noticing a slight slowdown on their device.

Unlike ransomware, a public-facing attack that gets businesses’ attention, cryptojackers want to remain in the system as long and quietly as possible.

This massive cryptojacking jump could come as a surprise to many as the declining bitcoin price could have prompted cybercriminals to turn their activities elsewhere. However, they’ve put greater efforts behind this form of malware, with a near quadruple increase in attacks, just to collect the same sum of cryptocurrency. The untraceable nature of crypto means that it is potentially being used to fund illicit activities for nation states, or worse…

Kids Are The Future, But Also The Target

One industry most affected by this rise in cryptojacking is the education sector which in the first half of 2023 is reported to have skyrocketed to 320 times the number of attacks recorded in the first half of 2022. This is a major issue for schools that have already been flooded with an array of cyber issues this year, with experts warning that the UK education sector in particular is at risk of increased attacks.

For cybercriminals, schools are a goldmine because they are powerhouses of data with large systems needed to hold it. Not only that, but educational institutions tend to have weaker cybersecurity measures due to low, limited budgets and this vulnerability provides a clear path for cybercriminals to launch cryptojacking operations with relative ease on school systems.

Educational institutions, since the pandemic, now rely heavily on the seamless functioning of their computer systems. These systems facilitate everything from administrative tasks to the delivery of online coursework. Therefore, with cryptojackers targeting schools and universities, they contribute to increasing bills while slowing down their systems. When in the system, who’s to say the attackers aren’t stealing personal data of students to sell on the dark web?.. The education sector is a vital institution which sits at the very centre of our society so students, teachers and parents alike need to be able to trust that their sensitive information is being kept safe by protected school systems.

Shoring Up A Widening Attack Surface

So what can be done to protect businesses and schools alike? Much like the rest of cybersecurity, solving the issue of cryptojacking requires a nuanced, multi-layer approach, from the top to the bottom.

Firstly, it is on businesses, particularly those in oft-hit sectors such as the education sphere, to prioritise cybersecurity from a budgetary and mindset perspective. The cost of a breach is too high to penny-pinch.

Secondly, from a technological perspective, those with outdated or poor-performing security tools must add prevention measures such as Intrusion Prevention Services, which will stop cryptojacking malware from entering networks, and firewalls for network security keeping threats out. They must adopt a zero-trust framework that continuously authenticates and validates all users and devices before granting access to the system.

However, even the best security in the world is likely to face vulnerability, which is why ensuring all software is patched, in the event of a zero-day, is crucial.

One of the most important methods to protect the business from security breaches is to focus on internal education. The strongest security system in the world can still be accessed if employees are not aware of the tricks that bad actors pull to gain access. A refresher course on best password hygiene, multi-factor authentication, and awareness of phishing attacks, is required. The impact of empowering users with strong password policies and robust security measures should not be overlooked for network security, especially as cloud-based tools are becoming more prevalent, making access easier for threat actors.

This cryptojacking surge is a stark reminder that we cannot just focus on the standard forms of cyberattacks and that there are now more nuanced attacks than ever being used by innovative hackers.

There is no time for complacency, Europe is still a hotbed for cybercriminal activity and we only expect attacks to increase. It is therefore up to both the business and individual to prepare themselves, and identify what is missing from their cybersecurity plan.

Spencer Starkey is VP of EMEA at SonicWall Image: Nathan Dumlao

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