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- A new report shows Monero as the most illegally extracted cryptographic currency
- More than a million miners have discovered they have illegally extracted
- It is said that bitcoin is also extracted illegally
Sergio Pastrana, of the Carlos III University of Madrid and Guillermo Suarez-Tangil, of the King & # 39; s College of London on January 3, 2019, released a document that cites the actions of the illegal extraction of cryptocurrencies. The document reveals that Monero (XRM) is the most affected digital resource with 4.3% of its total supply being illegally extracted.
Directing the computer resources of the user to my illegally
Firstly, the document explains that the data mining cryptocurrency illegally implies hijacking user resources. This is made possible by using cryptocurrency programs for web browsers or malware. In the case of this last, the document finds that this malware can easily be bought online for a few dollars which have determined its popularity.
In line with this, 4.4 million malware samples and 1 million miners were identified between 2007 and 2018. Data they were then extracted from these samples to ascertain the virtual currencies affected by this fraud.
Monero becomes a favorite among illegal miners
As a result, Monero falls on top of the list and has been classified as the "most popular digital resource" susceptible to cybercrime. The study also says that 4.22% of the supply of circulating coins has been illegally extracted. This percentage represents a turnover of $ 57 million, but then the estimate is based on the price of Monero as when it was cashed.
According to the newspaper, Bitcoin has been the main target in the past, as 2,000 malware samples were discovered in 2014. However, more priority has been given to other virtual currencies such as Monero because Bitcoin mining is less profitable. It was also revealed that between 2013 and 2014 Dogecoin and Litecoin were tested.
Mining with the use of hired machines is more profitable
Reportedly, a Monero encrypted mining facility costs $ 35. There are also cases where miners decide to share their machines for free, in exchange for a small donation. These machines have more complex infrastructures and as such are rented on the market. The writers point out that mining with machines of this type is usually more profitable.
Although these activities are beneficial for some groups of individuals, the document notes that it can affect both individuals and organizations. This is because it provides a huge income for cyber criminals and these are funds that can be used to sponsor other crimes. Stealing the resources of a user has negative implications on the hardware of his computer, he also adds the card.
The difficulty in detecting these operations was also outlined. In the case of malware mining, for example, these are operations performed when the CPU is idle. As a result, the computer owner does not know that his electricity is consumed and the hardware is fully functional.
McAfee, an IT security company based in the United States, had released a relationship in December 2018, stating a 4,000% increase in cryptocurrency malware. Their research revealed that since 2017 there were less than 500,000 malware threats compared to four million threats in the third quarter of 2018.
