TALKING

Around 60 % of the legal operating costs of crypto mining are formed by the consumption of electricity .

The preferred target of this type of crime is an organization with many endpoints ( desktops , laptops , servers ) connected on the same network . The goal is to infect , with the utmost discretion , as many machines as possible . Keep in mind that cryptojackers use the same hacking techniques that are seen in ransomware : downloading spurious and contaminated files , phishing campaigns that today even target social networks and structural vulnerabilities in company systems .

Anyone who suspects that their computer is under the domain of a cryptojacker should check indexes such as deterioration of endpoint and network performance , increase in the temperature of the machine and signs that the CPU is being demanded more than would be expected .

Pandemic and the home office increase vulnerability

Pandemic aided the action of cryptojackers . The home office has become the new perimeter of the corporate network , multiplying vulnerabilities and helping intrusions focused on cryptojacking .

The endpoint that suffers such an attack becomes a permanently affected machine , which cannot be recovered . The main target is always the graphics card , and secondly , the motherboard . The device that undergoes cryptojacking is a lost machine , intensifying the economic losses caused by this type of breach .

Other damages can arise from the attacks launched by criminal gangs that , in the beginning , only sought to carry out cryptojacking . Once inside the company ’ s expanded network , it is possible to move on to other types of criminal actions .

What to do to face this threat ?

There are two battlefronts to win this war . The use of firewalls to protect the entire company network and the adoption of solutions that defend the device used by the end user . Next Generation Firewalls , solutions with advanced Sandbox features , can block up to 99 % of cryptojacking attempts .

There is , however , the possibility that 1 % of these intrusions use strategies that are not identified by the firewall . In this case , it is essential to employ firewalls with advanced features , capable of checking the hardware itself , chips and cards , in order to prevent cryptojacking from reaching the machine language of the network elements .

Endpoint : battlefield against cryptojacking

And finally , in the case of computers used by company employees , including teleworking , the main strategy is to rely on the protection resources of tailored solutions for the defense of endpoints . These new security platforms are ‘ clientless ’. They do not have components installed on the endpoint , which preserves the performance of that computer and protects the computer through very sophisticated behavioral analysis .

This intelligence effectively identifies cryptojacking attempts , preventing the invasion from occurring . Under suspicion of a contaminated computer by cryptojacking , the solution is to quarantine that computer , preventing the malware from spreading through the network .

The new world created by the pandemic turned the personal computer into a mini data center where the most critical business processes take place . Anyone who adds endpoint and network protection to best practices in cybersecurity will achieve that target . p

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