Cryptominers: Are They The Biggest Threat of 2019?
The whole world is talking on bitcoins, cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, etc. for a year and a half. For the revenue organizations of different governments around the globe, discussing bitcoins is a hot topic due to its ever-fluctuating value.
From 2015 to 2018, the value of bitcoins rose around to $330, $780, $15000, $18000 respectively. But, at present, one bitcoin is equivalent to 3413.01 United States Dollar.
The early increase in the price of virtual currency was due to trades among stock markets and foreign currency exchange. Same is with the falls in the prize where trade doesn’t happen, and fluctuations are observed in the bitcoin price.
Again this could very well be a reason for the cyberattackers to make threats like crypto miners in order to accumulate the bitcoins.
In 2009 when bitcoin was launched, its price was only about $200. At that time, bitcoin mining wasn’t cost-efficient. Same was the case with other cryptocurrencies like Monero, Ethereum, Litecoin and Blockchain.
As the value of cryptocurrencies rose, the profitability increased. However, till 2018 cryptocurrency price kept on rising and mining became the new game which directly impacted the worth of bitcoins.
Cryptominers: A Growing Threat
According to reports, 17 million bitcoins have already been mined from 21 million. If cyberattackers mine more bitcoins, then the cyptojacking and cryptographic problems will increase and a number of bitcoins will cut from the data.
It means crypto miner software will block 2.1 million more bitcoins such that by the May 2020 price of bitcoins will decrease. The primary way to boost crypto mining profits is by lowering operating costs. The cost to mine bitcoins in the UK is around $15,000 to $20,000 and it is very significant.
The malicious cryptojacking scripts install on the computers such that it traverses personal to the enterprise levels and run cryptomining software as a disguised legitimate programme.

In 2017, the Pirate Bay browser was caught red-handed while generating revenue secretly via the central processing unit (CPU) to mine cryptocurrency Monero. In 2018, hackers targeted more than 400,000 home-based computers and installed bitcoin mining malware.
Today, several social media platforms like Facebook, Messenger and YouTube, all have experienced attempts from cryptocurrency mining software to infect users’ PCs and smartphones.
The rapid increase in the mining malware led the entry of some new threats like CoinHive, WebCobra and DarkGate malware which comes without the trouble of demanding ransoms.
When bitcoins first arrived in the market in 2009, nobody cared a lot about it. However, around 2014 a serious debate started to happen “Can cryptocurrency and bitcoins replace Flat Money?”
In the end, the government in every country controls the flow of money through laws, monetization and legal payments. Notably, the amount of flow of money is enormous, it is necessary to clarify whether cryptocurrency and bitcoins are accessible to everyone.
But, hackers have their eyes on generating revenue though whatever the way. As a result, crypto miners attacks are rapidly increasing, if compared to 2017, in 2018 attacks rose to a whopping percentage of 27%.
Most of the people see cryptomining attacks are a relatively simple and low-priority threat, but these attacks slow down system processes and may destroy system capacity of working.
Today, cryptominer attacks are only part of a larger attack structure and if you let them set up home in your network, you're inviting them to gain access to other parts of your computer.
The Big Picture of Cryptomining Attacks
To implement such attacks, the cyber attackers target the CPU of computers, IoT devices, mobile devices and the network infrastructure. Smart TVs, cable boxes, and DVRs are an increasing target of illegal mining power.
Cybercriminals exploit known security vulnerabilities, steal the processing power of devices and then mine cryptocurrencies. While computing cycles theft to mine for cryptocurrencies to steal data and disrupt critical infrastructure. Even more, it causes physical damage to the critical infrastructure and IoT devices.
This is why it is must to instruct their organizations to vigilantly watch out for signs like strange spikes in CPU and GPU usage and dramatic slowdowns of the systems, also including overheating.
Today, there are more than 1,500 cryptocurrencies, each of which provides a foundation for different types of malware. It is easy to see how cryptocurrency malware plays a role of catalyst in a more sophisticated attack with a much higher level of malicious intent.

Tips to Prevent virus and malware from Infecting Your System:
- Enable your popup blocker: Pop-ups and ads on the websites are the most adoptable tactic used by cybercriminals or developers with the core intention to spread malicious programs.
So, avoid clicking uncertain sites, software offers, pop-ups etc. and Install a powerful ad- blocker for Chrome, Mozilla, and IE
- Keep your Windows Updated: To avoid such infections, we recommend that you should always keep your system updated through automatic windows update.By doing this you can keep your device free from virus.According to the survey, outdated/older versions of Windows operating system are an easy target.
- Third-party installation: Try to avoid freeware download websites as they usually install bundled of software with any installer or stub file.
- Regular Backup: Regular and periodical backup helps you to keep your data safe in case the system is infected by any kind of virus or any other infection.Thus always backup important files regularly on a cloud drive or an external hard drive.
- Always have an Anti-Virus: Precaution is better than cure. We recommend that you install an antivirus like ITL Total Security or a good Malware Removal Tool like Download Virus RemovalTool