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back to article Ransomware is so 2017, it's all cryptomining now among the script kiddies

The number of organisations affected by cryptomining malware in the first half of 2018 ramped up to 42 per cent, compared to 20.5 per cent in the second half of 2017, according to a new report from Check Point. The top three most common malware variants seen in the first half of 2018 were all cryptominers: Coinhive (25 per …

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  1. Zippy's Sausage Factory
    Devil

    Cryptomining sounds a sensible place for malware slingers to go. I'd think it's less risky because corporates are more likely to treat it the same as any other low-level virus infection, whereas I'd think with ransomware they're much more likely to get the plod involved.

    Depressing as that sounds, I know...

    5 0 Reply
  2. g00se2
    WTF?

    Core!

    Surely the infected-boxes/revenue ratio is going to to have to go up hugely for mining malware as opposed to ransomware?

    1 0 Reply
    1. John Robson Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Core!

      Maybe, but ransomware is a one time hit. If you can keep under the radar on a box you can keep it mining for a long while.

      4 0 Reply
    2. Mark 85
      Reply Icon

      Re: Core!

      I don't think ransomware improved the miscreants bottom line. More and more targets just aren't paying as it's cheaper to re-image the machine, recover servers from backups etc. Part of it is the miscreants doing. They'd take the ransom and never send the "unlock" code.

      1 0 Reply
      1. 2Nick3
        Reply Icon

        Re: Core!

        "Part of it is the miscreants doing. They'd take the ransom and never send the "unlock" code."

        One bad apple among the bad apples ruins it for everyone!

        7 0 Reply
    3. Christian Berger
      Reply Icon

      Yeah, particulary since there is Javascript, WebAssembly and the likes

      People just tend to run any code when you tell them that there's a sandbox involved.

      Few people grasp the concept that sandboxes won't safe you from mining malware.

      1 0 Reply
  3. Claptrap314 Silver badge

    Evolutionary pressure

    I read an article fifteen or so years ago about bacteria evolving to become "nice" as their ability to spread is constrained. The primary example is diarrhea. At the time, it was near-fatal in India, required hospitalization in Mexico, and was almost completely benign in the US. Why? Because of sanitation practices. In an extreme case, there is a frog that can hibernate for years. With 50% of its blood volume the bacteria.

    Attackers want money. What they DON'T want is to go to jail. Ransomware is pretty good for money, but it presses all the right buttons to get people to come after you, hard. OTOH, crypto mining is stealing electricity. This is a much more stable solution.

    3 0 Reply
  4. Adrian 4

    cross-platform

    "Check Point further noted an increase in the number of malware variants targeting multiple platforms (mobile, cloud, desktop etc)."

    But no details of how that's done or how one might guard against it, unfortunately.

    2 0 Reply
  5. ThatOne Silver badge
    Happy

    > But no details of how that's done or how one might guard against it, unfortunately.

    Why, buy Check Point solutions I guess.

    0 0 Reply
  6. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

    Android phones come infected with malware

    I know all of mine have. They've all come with the "Facebook App", for example.

    2 0 Reply

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