{"id":20504,"date":"2018-06-27T06:02:13","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T10:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/20504\/"},"modified":"2020-10-13T22:52:14","modified_gmt":"2020-10-13T11:52:14","slug":"cryptominers-almost-double","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/20504\/","title":{"rendered":"Cryptominers gain ground"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Knowing how important and potentially devastating cybersecurity incidents and trends can be, we don\u2019t make predictions lightly, or relish being right about them. Nevertheless, it\u2019s safe to say <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/from-ransomware-to-webminers\/20135\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">our prediction<\/a> has come to pass: 2018 has seen cryptominers take the place of ransomware as top (bad) dog.<\/p>\n<h2>Cryptominers fulfill our prophecy<\/h2>\n<p>Ransomware is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/ransomware-for-dummies\/13592\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">dramatic<\/a> and can be frightening for victims \u2014 from average home users manipulated by tales of illicit and embarrassing files on their computers to businesses strong-armed into paying larger sums to regain access to critical files. Ransomware, however, is in serious decline.<\/p>\n<p>Our data shows that the number of users attacked by <a href=\"https:\/\/encyclopedia.kaspersky.com\/glossary\/cryptomalware\/?utm_source=kdaily&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=termin-explanation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">cryptomalware<\/a> dropped by nearly half, from 1,152,299 in 2016\u20132017 to 751,606 in 2017\u20132018.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, crafty <a href=\"https:\/\/encyclopedia.kaspersky.com\/glossary\/miner\/?utm_source=kdaily&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=termin-explanation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">cryptominers<\/a> have moved up to take ransomware\u2019s place, invading users\u2019 and businesses\u2019 computers and devices and taking advantage of their power to put cryptocurrency in the pockets of thieves. Over the same two-year period, cryptominer encounters rose in total number, from 1.9 million to 2.7 million, as well as in share of threats detected, from 3% to 4%.<\/p>\n<h3>Cryptominers: Signs and symptoms<\/h3>\n<p>Whereas ransomware enters with a flourish and freaks out its victims, cryptominers strive to remain hidden \u2014 the longer they toil, the greater the perpetrators\u2019 profit \u2014 and as a result, victims may not notice them for a time.<\/p>\n<p>If you decide to try <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/mining-easy-explanation\/17768\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">mining<\/a> for yourself, you must anticipate the impact mining has. Someone else secretly using your electronic resources plays things a bit closer to the vest, but they can\u2019t act in complete secrecy. A PC or mobile device secretly mining for currency may show subtle or obvious changes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>System response will slow; the device\u2019s memory, processor, and graphics adapter are bogged down completing cryptomining tasks.<\/li>\n<li>Batteries will run down much faster than before, and devices may run quite hot.<\/li>\n<li>If the device uses a data plan, users will see data usage skyrocket.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Staying safe or recovering<\/h3>\n<p>If your suspicion has been raised by the abovementioned symptoms, take the following steps to ensure your system or device is clean \u2014 and stays that way.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Update your operating system and all software regularly. We suggest starting right now.<\/li>\n<li>Distrust e-mail attachments by default. Before clicking to open an attachment or follow a link, consider carefully: Is it from someone you know and trust; is it expected; is it clean? Hover over links and attachments to see what they\u2019re named or where they really go.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t install software from unknown sources. It may and often <a href=\"https:\/\/securelist.com\/miners-on-the-rise\/81706\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">does contain malicious cryptominers<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Use a strong security solution on all computers and mobile devices, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/mobile-security?icid=au_kdailyplacehold_acq_ona_smm__onl_b2c_kdaily_wpplaceholder_sm-team___kisa____f4d699061e0733ea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kaspersky Internet Security for Android<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/premium?icid=au_bb2022-kdplacehd_acq_ona_smm__onl_b2c_kdaily_lnk_sm-team___kprem___\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kaspersky Total Security<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Help educate your team about safe e-behavior, whether that\u2019s family members at home or coworkers in the office.<\/li>\n<li>You can read the <a href=\"https:\/\/securelist.com\/ransomware-and-malicious-crypto-miners-in-2016-2018\/86238\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">full report on Securelist<\/a>. Click here to learn about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/web-miners-protection\/20556\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">how Kaspersky Lab products protect against miners<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<input type=\"hidden\" class=\"category_for_banner\" value=\"kis-top3\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we predicted at the end of 2017, malicious cryptomining is booming in 2018, up by 44%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2045,"featured_media":20505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2646],"tags":[374,1035,2840,2741,2619,892,614],"class_list":{"0":"post-20504","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-threats","9":"tag-bitcoin","10":"tag-blockchain","11":"tag-cryptojacking","12":"tag-miners","13":"tag-mining","14":"tag-predictions","15":"tag-report"},"hreflang":[{"hreflang":"en-au","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/20504\/"},{"hreflang":"en-in","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.in\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/13565\/"},{"hreflang":"en-ae","url":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/11327\/"},{"hreflang":"en-us","url":"https:\/\/usa.kaspersky.com\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/15627\/"},{"hreflang":"en-gb","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.uk\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/13879\/"},{"hreflang":"es-mx","url":"https:\/\/latam.kaspersky.com\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/13092\/"},{"hreflang":"es","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.es\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/16373\/"},{"hreflang":"it","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.it\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/15868\/"},{"hreflang":"ru","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.ru\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/20804\/"},{"hreflang":"tr","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.tr\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/5049\/"},{"hreflang":"x-default","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/22898\/"},{"hreflang":"fr","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.fr\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/10662\/"},{"hreflang":"pt-br","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.br\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/10455\/"},{"hreflang":"pl","url":"https:\/\/plblog.kaspersky.com\/cryptominers-almost-double\/9326\/"},{"hreflang":"de","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.de\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/17094\/"},{"hreflang":"ja","url":"https:\/\/blog.kaspersky.co.jp\/cryptominers-almost-double\/20675\/"},{"hreflang":"ru-kz","url":"https:\/\/blog.kaspersky.kz\/cryptominers-almost-double\/16715\/"},{"hreflang":"en-za","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/cryptominers-almost-double\/20495\/"}],"acf":[],"banners":"","maintag":{"url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/tag\/miners\/","name":"miners"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2045"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20504"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28283,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20504\/revisions\/28283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}