Cryptojacking hacker trend turns Canadian web surfers into cryptocurrency miners
Scores of Canadians dipped their toes into cryptocurrency mining in recent weeks — they just didn’t realize it.
A wave of so-called “cryptojacking” has been sweeping the internet, forcing unwitting web surfers into generating money for cyber criminals.Hackers infect websites with malicious code that secretly conscripts visitors into an army of cryptocurrency miners.
Cryptocurrency mining involves devoting a computer’s processing power to solving a complicated mathematical problem with digital currency offered as a reward.
Computer security researcher Troy Mursch recently identified as many as 50,000 websites that had been compromised by the latest hacking trend and said cryptojacking is in its “gold rush” stage.
An incident last month also exposed just how large the problem is becoming. On a quiet Sunday morning with most IT workers at home with their families, the websites of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and the municipal websites of cities including Yellowknife and Oshawa, Ont.were among thousands that were hit with an attack linked to a third-party accessibility app called Browsealoud.
More recently, the infected sites Mursch identified included thousands using the WordPress platform, which is favoured by bloggers and small businesses looking for an easy way to set up a web presence. Canadian mom-and-pop stores, wedding photographers and personal trainers were among those who had their websites turned into profit generators for hackers.
The scheme has proven so profitable that many hackers have been turning their attention away from trying to steal consumers’ personal information or hijack computers with so-called ransomware attacks, says Vancouver-based Jerome Segura, a security researcher with software company Malwarebytes.
“It’s not that it’s not happening anymore but it’s a lot less than it was in the last couple of years when ransomware was the main focus and causing mayhem,” Segura said, pointing to last year’s WannaCry global cyberattack that hit hundreds of thousands of computers including critical machines in hospitals.
“As long as the price of cryptocurrencies stays high, this is going to be the kind of activity that we’re going to see cybercriminals prefer.”
While he hesitated to call the trend toward cryptojacking “good news” for internet users, Mursch said “it’s definitely the lesser of the evils” compared to being victimized by a ransomware attack, in which hackers digitally lock a computer and demand to be paid before releasing it to the owner.
“Ransomware is basically like pointing a gun at you and saying, ‘Hey, pay up or you’re not getting your files back,’ versus cryptojacking you might not even know about it, it’s just going to silently steal your electricity,” he said.
Segura said what’s striking about this latest trend is that it affects virtually any kind of device that can access a website. In the past, many consumers thought they were safe from viruses and malware on their mobile phones or Apple computers.
“It’s platform agnostic in the sense that it doesn’t matter if you have a Windows computer, or a Mac, or even a mobile device, if you’re visiting that website your device will start mining regardless,” he said.
Segura said what’s striking about this latest trend is that it affects virtually any kind of device that can access a website. In the past, many consumers thought they were safe from viruses and malware on their mobile phones or Apple computers.
“It’s platform agnostic in the sense that it doesn’t matter if you have a Windows computer, or a Mac, or even a mobile device, if you’re visiting that website your device will start mining regardless,” he said.
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