Cryptominers have emerged as a major threat to organizations worldwide. Here are seven you cannot afford to ignore.

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Cryptocurrency mining has emerged as the new big threat for organizations worldwide.

Many cybercriminals, looking to cash in on the crypto-craze, have begun hijacking computers and using their resources secretly to mine for cryptocurrencies.

One tactic has been to install miners for popular cryptocurrencies—especially Monero—on host systems and add them to massive cryptomining botnets. Another common tactic has been to embed mining tools in websites and secretly use the computing resources of visitors to these sites to mine for Monero and other digital currencies. Research released by Imperva Tuesday also reported that 88% of all remote code execution attacks in December 2017 drove targets to cryptomining malware download sites. 

The trend has impacted individuals and business severely. Vendors have reported numerous businesses suffering major operational disruptions as a result of mining tools being installed on servers and other business systems. In a report this week, Check Point Software Technologies estimated that a staggering 23% of organizations worldwide appear to have been impacted by the Coinhive mining tool alone. The company's list of top 10 malware threats for January 2018 includes three cryptomining tools.

Here, in no particular order, are seven of the most prolific cryptocurrency miners and botnets currently plaguing users globally.

About the Author(s)

Jai Vijayan, Contributing Writer

Jai Vijayan is a seasoned technology reporter with over 20 years of experience in IT trade journalism. He was most recently a Senior Editor at Computerworld, where he covered information security and data privacy issues for the publication. Over the course of his 20-year career at Computerworld, Jai also covered a variety of other technology topics, including big data, Hadoop, Internet of Things, e-voting, and data analytics. Prior to Computerworld, Jai covered technology issues for The Economic Times in Bangalore, India. Jai has a Master's degree in Statistics and lives in Naperville, Ill.

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