What is the issue?
- The ever increasing attractiveness for cryptocurrency mining is leaving way for new threats in the cyber space.
- Cryptojacking has become the latest threat to computers worldwide.
How do cryptocurrencies work?
- Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are based on the blockchain technology.
- The blockchain technology involves maintaining a digital ledger to publicly record transactions.
- A blockchain is reliant on the network of computers that run the software for the cryptocurrency.
- The computers participate in the relay of information regarding transactions made between holders of the currency.
- These computers in the network are called nodes.
- They can be operated by anyone who downloads the bitcoin software available for free online.
- When a transaction is initiated, encrypted details are transmitted among all nodes.
What is cryptocurrency mining?
- The money in cryptocurrency is not printed. It is rather discovered, or “mined”.
- Mining is used to confirm waiting transactions and then record it into a public ledger called blockchain.
- The web of nodes in blockchain technology includes those operated by miners.
- Miners' objective is to group the outstanding transactions into blocks and then add them to the blockchain.
- A mining hardware competes with others on the network to earn cryptocurrencies.
How does mining work?
- Computers around the world “Mine” for bitcoins competing with each other.
- Adding encrypted transactions to the blockchain is accomplished by the miner's cryptocurrency software.
- This involves solving a complex mathematical puzzle involving the numerical keys to the encryption.
- Once a node has hit upon the right combination, it conveys its success to other nodes.
- Subsequently, other miners drop processing that block and move on to the next.
- The winning node that registers a transaction by adding it to the blockchain is rewarded in Bitcoin.
What are the challenges?
- The cost of mining is often highly expensive.
- High-end machines with substantial computing power are required to solve the puzzle in a timely manner.
- The electricity required to power the hardware also considerably adds to the cost.
Why is mining attractive yet?
- Anonymity - Cryptocurrencies are a boon for individuals or corporations which seek financial anonymity.
- The lack of a central regulatory authority facilitates trade in illegal goods through the virtual currencies.
- Lucrative - Exchanges that trade bitcoin have witnessed massive hike in prices owing to speculation.
- The valuation of a single bitcoin was around Rs.65,ooo in January, 2017.
- Its value had peaked at around Rs.12,60,000 in December 2017.
- Hardware assets - The software for mining cryptocurrencies like bitcoin is open source and available online.
- But the hardware processing speed required to make mining feasible are found only in high-end workstations that are powered by GPUs.
- Leveraging hardware assets to mine for coins is another means to have a share in the process.
What is the latest cryptojacking threat?
- A said earlier, cryptocurrency mining is lucrative but still involves huge costs, diminishing the attractiveness.
- To balance the cost overruns, attackers have started employing malware.
- It is a way to force an entry into the computers of remote users, and then using their hardware to mine for coins.
- This is cryptojacking. It is profitable since it eliminates the cost burden of owning a mining assembly with hundreds of processors.
Who are vulnerable?
- The phenomenon is not restricted to the miniscule minority that trades in cryptocurrencies or uses their systems to mine for coins.
- All users who browse the internet are vulnerable to their systems being ‘cryptojacked’.
- Desktops, laptops, tablets, or even mobile devices can be maliciously subverted without the knowledge of their owners.
How does crptojacking work?
- Cryptojackers usually target popular websites which draw audiences numbering in the millions every day.
- Once the malware patch has been embedded on a website, it infects the web browsers of visitors.
- It slows down their machines, often causing them to overheat.
- Websites and apps that do not charge a fee for consuming their content survive on revenue from digital advertising.
- However, websites like the file-sharing platform have been found to be employing code which hijacks users' system.
- It then uses it for mining cryptocurrency.
- Many websites view this as an alternative source of revenue, bypassing intrusive advertisements.
What is the way forward?
- The transition to a digital economy has made financial services more dependent on technology.
- The emergence of cryptocurrencies has made it even more difficult to check hackers trying to access online finances.
- It is thus crucial to address the rising concern of cryptojacking.
- There are a range of applications that could protect computers from attacks by cryptojackers.
- Some of them inlcude 'NoCoin', 'MalwareBytes', 'minerBlock'.
- While these tools are not completely infallible, they provide a first line of defence against potential security breaches.
Source: The Hindu
