New research shows that despite the decline in prices of digital assets, crypto mining reached record levels in the first half of 2022.
According to a mid-year update on cyberthreats by US cybersecurity firm SonicWall, global crypto mining volumes increased by $66.7 million, or 30%, in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period last year, Cointelegraph reported.
Crypto mining is a cybercrime where malicious actors take over the victim's computer resources by infecting the device with malware designed to mine cryptocurrency. It is often implemented through vulnerabilities in web browsers and extensions.
The report stated that the general rise in crypto mining can be attributed to two factors. First, cybercriminals are taking advantage of the Log4j vulnerability to spread attacks in the cloud. In December 2021, a critical vulnerability was discovered affecting the Java-based registry tool in the open source library managed by the software company Apache. Where hackers can exploit it to gain remote access to the system.
Second, crypto mining is a less dangerous attack than a ransomware attack that must be made public in order to succeed. Victims of crypto mining are often unaware that their computers or networks have been compromised.
The attackers also seem to have changed their preferred targets during this period, moving from the government, healthcare and education sectors to the retail and financial sectors.
Crypto mining attacks targeting the financial sector are up 269% in this period, five times more than the second-highest industry - retail, which saw attacks increase by 63%.
The researchers also noted that the number of attacks on the financial industry is five times greater than that of the second highest industry - retail, which was previously at the bottom of the list.
However, the researchers noted that the volume of crypto-mining attacks began to decline along with the cryptocurrency markets in the first half of the year, as attacks became less profitable.
