Despite the Bear Market, Crypto Mining's malware outperforms the threat index for the 13th consecutive month

According to a press release published on January 14, three cryptographic malware strains have passed the latest Global Threat Index of the Israeli computer security company Check Point.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is a provider of security solutions for governments and businesses around the world, with over 100,000 organizations currently using their own security management system.

As reported, stealth mining encryption attacks – also known as machine encryption – work by installing malware that uses the processing power of a computer to extract cryptocurrencies without the consent or knowledge of the owner.

According to the Check Point Global Threat Index of December 2018, the three most wanted malware strains were all connected to cryptojacking – with Coinhive, a browser-based Monero mining code (XMR) – which sealed the first place for the thirteenth consecutive month .

Second ranked second and third respectively, XMRig is referred to as an open source CPU mining software for XMR mining, while Jsecoin is a JavaScript miner that can be incorporated into websites, marketed to site owners as an alternative form of monetization for advertising .

While it is estimated that Coinhive affects about 12% of organizations worldwide, XMRig has a global hold of 8%, followed by 7% JSEcoin.

As reported, several security researchers have pointed out that the use of cryptojacking continues to increase despite the global cryptocurrency market. Last November, the Russian internet security company Kaspersky Labs published an analysis that indicated that after the bull run on the encrypted market had subsided in January and February 2018, there was also an interest in the Encryption had decreased slightly, but there has remained a constant and current threat throughout 2018.

Analysts have noted that one factor contributing to the popularity of cryptojacking could be the range of ready-to-use programs, open mining pools and miners who are available to attackers.

According to research published earlier this month, more than 4% of Monero, whose privacy-focused features contribute to its popularity as an election currency for secret extraction operations, is estimated to be illegally extracted.