Cryptojacking: How To Protect Your Business?

Last updated on August 30th, 2023 at 03:15 pm

The number of cyber-attacks has been increasing in recent years, which calls for organizations to strengthen their security. Cryptojacking is a new form of cyber-attack that has been deemed as a major cyber security threat for organizations. Hackers have managed to exploit the internet user’s bandwidth and processing power to mine cryptocurrency. So, organizations look for security testing services to protect their business from malicious attacks. 

These attacks are designed intelligently so that the users click on the malicious links in an email that spontaneously loads the crypto mining code on their computers. By cryptojacking smartphones, laptops, and servers, attackers hack the CPU of the devices and mine cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Etherum, etc. It is extremely difficult to trace and identify hackers externally. 

How Does Cryptojacking Working?

Hackers are using external computing power to access and mine cryptocurrencies without their knowledge. Thus, cryptojacking has become easier, since they simply need machines to perform these cyber-attacks. Over the years, hackers have come up with intelligent ways to attack systems and misuse them for their own interests. Cryptojacking has empowered hackers to utilize the loose endpoints of CPUs for swift financial gains. This process involves embedding malware into certain popular websites that attract a large number of visitors every day on a regular basis in executable files. Security testing services are performed to test if there are any loopholes in a system, to avoid the risk of being attacked. 

In reality, hackers quickly mine cryptocurrencies, meanwhile, visitors browse these websites and deposit their personal information in their secret wallers. This can be done on personal computers either by using a file-based mining technique or by using browser-based mining methods. Additionally, the mining process is continued for a long period of time as the detection becomes difficult for the users. These attackers use computers for these attacks to take advantage of the vulnerabilities involved with outdated software. The longer a user stays on a cryptojacked website, the more cryptocurrency gets mined. Most of these websites are usually streaming media sites, where users tend to spend more time and the risk of being attacked raises. 

How To Detect Cyrptojacking?

If you see any of the following signs, it means you are a victim to cryptojacking and need to secure your computer system immediately:

• Significant changes in CPU usage
• Abnormal CPU fan speeds
• Weak system networks
• Observing a slow down in the system
• Abnormal battery-draining
• Sudden impaired devices performance 

How To Protect From Cyrptojacking?

Make sure you follow the below-mentioned tips to remain protected from cryptojacking:

• Use strong passwords
• Download apps carefully
• User up-to-date anti-virus
• Block malicious access, if observed
• Maintain stable networks
• Update Windows software
• Install browser extensions from safe sites
• Block most common JavaScript miners

Conclusion

Cryptojacking has become famous in recent years. So businesses should hire security testing services to protect them from malicious attacks. The above tips can also be helpful in protecting against these attacks.