Woburn, MA – November 28, 2018 – Kaspersky Lab has released a new report on the global outbreak in malicious cryptocurrency mining that unfolded in 2018, which saw the number of crypto-mining attacks increase by more than 83 percent over the previous year. More than five million people were attacked with cryptocurrency mining malware in the first three quarters of 2018, compared to 2.7 million people over the same period in 2017. The installation and use of unlicensed software and content was the major driver behind this year’s crypto gold rush.
In 2018, malicious cryptocurrency miners prevailed over the main threat of the last few years: ransomware. The number of internet users attacked by malicious cryptocurrency mining software increased steadily during the first half of the year, peaking in March, when around 1.2 million users faced an attack.
Kaspersky Lab researchers investigated the economics behind the sudden onset of crypto-mining fever to discover what drove the global distribution of this threat. They analyzed the regulatory landscape; electricity prices in countries most commonly targeted by crypto-miners; and the main infection vectors for popular malware families.
The analysis revealed that neither cryptocurrency legislation nor the cost of power has a significant impact on the spread of malicious crypto-miners. However, the investigation of different malware families’ propagation found that miners mainly infected devices by duping users into installing pirated software and unlicensed content.
“Our analysis of the economic background of malicious crypto-mining and the reasons for its widespread presence in certain regions revealed a clear correlation,” said Evgeny Lopatin, security expert at Kaspersky Lab. “The easier it is to distribute unlicensed software, the more incidents of malicious crypto-miner activities were detected. In short, an activity not generally perceived as especially dangerous, the downloading and installation of dubious software, underpins what is arguably the biggest cyberthreat story of the year – malicious crypto-mining.”
Other key findings from the report include:
To reduce the risk of becoming infected with a crypto-miner, Kaspersky Lab advises the following tips for consumers and businesses:
The full text of the “Story of the Year 2018: Cryptocurrency Miners” is available on our blog. Read what Kaspersky Lab experts predict for the future of cryptocurrency in 2019 here. To learn more about ransomware, the “Story of the Year 2017,” visit Securelist.
This report forms part of the annual Kaspersky Security Bulletin. Other sections of the bulletin, including “Threat Predictions for 2019,” are also available on our blog. The annual Review and Statistics will become available in December.
About Kaspersky Lab
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