‘Cryptojacking’ Rises 30% to Record High Despite Crypto Decline: Report

New research shows that despite falling digital asset prices, cryptojacking has reached record levels in the first half of 2022.

According to a semi-annual update on cyber threats from US cybersecurity company SonicWall, global cryptojacking volumes increased by $66.7 million, or 30% in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period last year.

Cryptojacking is a cybercrime in which malicious actors overpower a victim’s computer resources by infecting the machine with malware designed to mine cryptocurrencies. It is often carried out through vulnerabilities in browsers and extensions.

The report stated that the overall increase in cryptojacking can be attributed to a couple of factors.

First, cybercriminals exploit the Log4j vulnerability to deploy attacks in the cloud. In December 2021, a critical vulnerability affecting java-based logging tools was discovered in the Open Source Library managed by the software company Apache. Hackers can exploit it to gain remote access to a system.

Second, cryptojacking is a lower-risk attack than ransomware that must be publicly disclosed to succeed. Victims of cryptojacking are often unaware that their computers or networks have been compromised.

Watch out for the financial sector

Attackers also appeared to have changed their preferred targets during the period, moving from the government, healthcare and education sectors to the retail and financial sectors.

Cryptojacking attacks targeting the financial sector skyrocketed by 269% in the period, more than five times greater than the next highest industry – retail, which saw attacks increase by 63%.

“The number of attacks on the financial industry is five times greater than the next highest industry – retail, which used to be at the very bottom of the list,” the researchers noted.

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However, the researchers noted that the volume of cryptojacking attacks began to coincide with the crypto markets in the first half of the year, as the attacks became less lucrative.

They observed a pattern of significantly higher volumes in the first quarter, followed by “cryptojacking summer slump” in Q2. The firm said that based on past trends, third-quarter volumes are also likely to be low, with attacks likely to pick up again in the fourth quarter.

This year’s summer slump has also been attributed to a drop in crypto asset prices as markets have shrunk by 57% since the start of the year.