Despite the recent devaluation of some cryptocurrencies, illicit cryptocurrency miners remain a lucrative and widespread attack vector in the threat landscape. These miners are easy to deploy, and attackers see it as a quick way to steal other users’ processing power to generate cryptocurrency. These attacks are harder to notice than a traditional denial-of-service or malware campaign, resulting in reduced risk and a more stable foothold for a malicious actor. The Cyber Threat Alliance, with contributions from Cisco Talos and other CTA members, has released a whitepaper detailing the rise of cryptomining attacks that outlines what you — and your organization — should know about these kinds of campaigns.
This paper covers the fact that there is a low technical barrier to entry for attackers, and that there are accessible patches to protect users from many of these attacks. Because cryptomining campaigns are easy to launch, a broader set of actors have engaged in this activity, resulting in a higher rate of attacks. Talos often observes multiple actors with illicit cryptomining software on the same compromised box. The use of well-known vulnerabilities by attackers essentially turns this problem into a canary-in-the-coalmine situation for defenders. If you discover unauthorized cryptomining software on one of your assets, there is a high likelihood that other actors have also leveraged the weaknesses in your systems to gain access — potentially for more damaging purposes.
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