According to SonicWall’s recent report on cyber threats, global cryptojacking volumes increased by 30% in the first six months of 2022 compared to the same period last year.
Cryptojacking is a type of cybercrime in which malicious actors seize control of a victim’s computer resources by infecting it with malware designed to mine coins. It is frequently carried via using flaws in web browsers and plugins.
Contributing Factors to Rise of Global Cryptojacking
According to the survey, several variables might be blamed for the general increase in cryptojacking.
First, hackers use the Log4j vulnerability to launch attacks on cloud-based systems. A serious flaw in the Open Source Library run by the software firm Apache in December 2021 that affected java-based logging utilities was found. To get remote access to a system, hackers can use this vulnerability.
Second, unlike ransomware, which requires a public target to succeed, cryptojacking is a lower-risk attack. When their computers or networks are infiltrated, victims of cryptojacking usually are not aware of it.
Attacks in Finance Sector
Attacks in the finance sector increased 269% during the period, more than five times that of the second largest industry, retail, which saw 63% more attacks.
“The number of attacks on the finance industry is five times greater than the second highest industry — retail, which used to be at the very bottom of the list,” stated the researchers.
However, the researchers observed that when attacks became less profitable, the amount of cryptojacking attempts started to decline in tandem with the cryptocurrency markets in the first half of the year.
They saw a pattern where volumes were noticeably higher in the first quarter and then experienced a “cryptojacking summer slump” in Q2. According to the company, Q3 volumes will probably also be low based on historical trends, with attacks likely to rise again in Q4.
As markets have declined by 57% since the start of the year, a reduction in crypto asset values has also been linked to this year’s summer decline.