Bitcoin Global News (BGN)
November 29, 2018 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire -- The easiest way for
someone to hack your computer is typically through some sort of
malware on a website.
If you have been keeping up with
Blockchain news this year however, then you already know about
mining malware and the new danger it presents. Even so, a quick
recap may be in order. As the Crypto market continues to grow, so
does the potential of such a threat.
Overall, mining malware or
the practice of cryptojacking, refers to hackers accessing many
users’ browsers at once to mine a significant amount of crypto. One
of the first cases of this was with the Coinhive malware miner,
which Metacert cited in August as providing around $250,000 in
total monthly profits in Monero.
At the same time, the UK Register
published an article claiming that cryptojacking is not profitable
at all. Despite this, they referenced research from the
Braunschweig University of Technology in stating that 1 out of
every 500 of the top million websites by Alexa ranking are infected
with cryptojacking code.
Thus, if the Register’s conclusions
are to be believed, cryptojacking is a true threat, albeit not a
profitable one. More specifically, in analyzing Coinhive’s average
hash rate and payout ratio to individual users as well as other
factors, they found that hackers could reasonably expect $5.80 a
day for their efforts.
Judging by Coindesk’s article today
on the subject, all of this might be shifting in a new direction
due to the evolution of cryptojacking.
The new trend with this browser
exploit seems to be distributing cryptojacking software across
botnets instead of directly to the hackers themselves. To make
matters even worse for the average internet user, Kaspersky Labs
released a report yesterday which says that cryptojacking has been
growing due to this trend.
Given this, it would be logical to
explain what botnets are and what they can do in this
respect.
In the simplest sense,
botnets are groups of computers that someone has deliberately
infected with malware to perform a singular action like mining a
cryptocurrency.
In this case, at least in theory,
when these groups attack certain websites as one, their profits can
be much larger.
If you are wondering about what to
do with all of this information at this point, then you are
assuredly not alone.
In short, we hope you consider
solutions like the Metacert protocol, which uses its database of
websites that are known to be compromised to automatically block
activities like cryptojacking. Installing it is as easy as
downloading a free browser extension.
In the end, as with any
danger on the internet, education and proper security is key. No
one wants to become someone else’s gold mine.
By: BGN Editorial Staff