News
Reduced returns from Bitcoin mining increase cyber threat to business
July 2016 by Emmanouil Vrentzos, senior cyber threat intelligence analyst at Control Risks
Businesses face an increased threat of being hacked due to the diminishing profits available from Bitcoin mining according to the latest cyber threat intelligence from Control Risks. The reduction in profits available from Bitcoin mining means enterprises face a heightened cyber threat landscape as criminals seek alternative revenue sources, including hacking servers to increase their computing power to maintain current mining levels. This shift in criminal tactics also means that businesses are at risk of more Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) extortion attacks and the deployment of ransomware into enterprise systems as criminals seek to plug this financial gap.
Desire by criminals to maintain the same level of income from Bitcoin as before means IT directors will face the introduction of new types of malware in the coming months and an increasing pressure for victims of ransomware campaigns to pay in Bitcoin currency.
Emmanouil Vrentzos, senior cyber threat intelligence analyst at Control Risks commented: “This shift in Bitcoin mining profitability will potentially have a huge knock on effect for big corporates and their cyber security vulnerability. As criminals require ever more computing power to maintain their current profit margins from Bitcoin mining, they will increasingly turn to hacking enterprise servers to supply this power.”
He continues:
“Cybercrime is constantly in flux so it is important businesses understand their particular threat landscape on a regular basis and update procedures accordingly. In this case, businesses should closely monitor for both malware as well as the potential insider threat. Close oversight of individuals with direct control of digital infrastructure and IT networks for unusual activity particularly outside office hours is vital. Equally, when downloading smartphone apps, organisations with BYOD policies should ensure users select only trusted providers to prevent involuntary malware downloads.”
