Cryptojacking Attacks Increase

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Cryptojacking Attacks Increase

Cryptojacking Attacks Increase

The attacks on cryptocurrency servers have lately increased several folds and data reveals it jumped by 564 percent in the United Kingdom in 2021. Commonly called cryptojacking, there were about 436,000 hijack reports last year while in 2020 it was just 66,000.

Cybersecurity firm SonicWall published the report revealing the crime has increased due to the work-from-home trend due to the COVID-19 pandemic and attackers were easily able to access the devices of employees who were outside the usual defenses of their respective companies.

The cryptojacking phenomenon jumped as well as dropped with the increase in the value of cryptocurrencies as the assets become lucrative for the attackers. The global crypto segment was worth over $3 trillion in 2021.

SonicWall CEO Bill Conner said working from homes has widened up the attack surface for crybercriminals as most employees use VPN, which can be easily compromised and attackers can access the endpoint.

Cybercriminals can easily get into the mobile devices of people through apps and similarly into computers and harvest intellectual capabilities including IDs to use it in getting the cryptocurrencies.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, business houses across the globe adapted additional cybersecurity strategies while facilitating remote working. However, the cryptojacking data released by SonicWall underscore business houses facing cybercriminals. Meanwhile, it is learned the US President has allocated $2 billion for the improvement of cybersecurity infrastructure and Conner indicates the UK needs to work simultaneously to tackle cybercrimes.

Conner added the internet world has no boundary condition for cybercriminals and this is the reason a good collaboration is required between the two countries.

The report simultaneously revealed an increase in other types of cybercrimes including ransomware, which jumped to double compared to 2020.

Last month, the FBI established a digital currency unit for investigating the increasing cases of ransomware as well as other cybercrimes that involve crypto assets. Similarly, the FCA in the UK has expressed concern over the operations of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange in the country.

The cryptocurrency segment is very new and the first of its kind was released in 2009 as Bitcoin. Since then, cryptocurrency exchanges have been attacked several times resulting in stolen coins. In the period of just about a decade, a plethora of cryptocurrencies has been launched and several crypto exchanges. Keeping the coins safe and secure is now the primary concern of exchanges. Various features have been introduced including cold wallets or offline wallets to protect users. Despite the efforts, the cases of cryptojacking increased several folds in 2021.

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