The term cryptocurrency came into existence in the year 2009 when a person named Satoshi Nakamoto created a digital currency named Bitcoin that worked on the blockchain network . His idea of him was to create a currency that would not just be completely digital but also decentralized. Neither the government nor the banks could interfere and regulate its working.
This idea did not gain much importance back then, but in the recent past, people have been investing a lot of their hard-earned money in cryptocurrencies. Almost a decade ago, there was only one crypto in the market, but now, there are about 18,465 cryptocurrencies. Along with investments in stock markets and mutual funds, people are also investing their money in these cryptocurrencies.
Even the trend over the past few years has shown a steep rise in the value of various cryptocurrencies. Thus, there is more than one reason for people to think that crypto is undoubtedly a great investment. But, with this popularity, even the hackers have tried to scam people by hacking digital wallets and these hackers have also started cryptojacking.
So if you have invested your money in cryptocurrencies or if you are a crypto miner, this article is for you. This article will be discussing everything that you need to know about crypto mining malware and how you can protect yourself against it.
What is Crypto Mining?
Before understanding cryptojacking, let us understand what crypto mining means. In simple words, crypto mining is the process of the creation of newer coins. But crypto mining has more to it. It also involves the process of validating every cryptocurrency that is being created on the blockchain network and including them in a digital ledger.
The process of crypto mining also makes every coin unique and prevents the double-spending of one single coin in a specific blockchain network. Just like the traditional currencies, even when a transaction takes place using cryptocurrencies on a blockchain network, the coins get debited from one address and credited to another’s.
But, cryptocurrencies are decentralized and thus, out of the reach and protection of the government. This also poses a threat of the digital currency getting manipulated or scammed easily. That is exactly why popular and stable cryptocurrencies like Bitcoins only allow verified miners on their blockchain. Thus, the miners have a huge responsibility of securing the network.
How does the process of crypto mining take place?
Various tools and technologically advanced computers that are connected to a continuous source of energy are a must for crypto mining. The computer then solves mathematical or cryptographic puzzles to get rewarded with one cryptocurrency.
The first one to complete the whole process gets rewarded with a coin. But as these digital ledgers are decentralized, the validation of each coin being mined is very important. This also encourages the miners to secure the network and participate in the transaction validation process and authenticate the coins they have mined.
The proof of work (PoW) also came into the game to make sure that only the verified miners can mine crypto and validate their transactions. This keeps the whole process secure and far out of the reach of hackers.
There are also various ways of mining cryptocurrencies. In the earlier days when cryptocurrency was not that famous and there was not much competition among the miners, crypto could also be mined with the help of basic computers with CPUs.
But now, with the increase in competition, people find it very slow and impractical as it takes months to mine a coin thus consuming a huge amount of electricity and providing little or no profit. The electrical and cooling cost that the crypto miners would have to bear for mining a single coin through this profit would increase their cost.
Next people started mining coins by setting up GPUs which maximized the computational power. The GPU mining also required setting up a motherboard and a cooling system for it to work properly.
Miners also use ASIC which is specifically created to mine crypto. This means that it is one of the best methods to mine cryptos. But this system has one drawback. Unlike GPU miners, ASICs are very expensive and as Crypto mining will get difficult in the coming days, ASICs will also become obsolete.
Lastly, cloud mining is becoming very popular these days. ASICs and GPU mining is getting costlier day by day and thus, the miners are now using cloud mining which allows the miners to extract the powers from big corporations and use it for crypto mining facilities.
What Crypto Mining Software Should You Use?
So if you are trying to mine cryptocurrencies, what software should you choose? What is the best software out there in the market in 2022? Here are some of the best Bitcoin mining software available out there in the market –
SHAMINING – It is a very famous cloud mining platform that works on ASIC and GPU. Its easy and user-friendly interface makes it really popular among miners these days. Not just that, its unique features like income calculator, real-time statistics, and easy account management from any device, make it one of the best software for crypto mining.
GMINERS – Another really popular crypto mining software is GMINERS. It is also very straightforward and user-friendly software that can also be used on any device. You also do not need to install this software on any of your devices. GMINERS is also very secure and allows various payment methods.
ECOS – Established in the year 2017, ECOS is yet another popular mining software. It is one of the best cloud mining software out there in the market. More than 90,000 users have registered for this software from all over the world. It is a full-fledged investment platform that charges a minimum of $ 49 for mining.
What is Crypto-jacking?
Now that you have an idea about crypto mining, let us discuss cryptojacking. So what is cryptojacking? Cryptojacking is a kind of cyber attack where hackers try to exploit a miner by hacking their computers and taking control over their mined crypto without the miner’s authorization.
In 2017, when the cryptocurrency reached its boom, and the value of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin reached its heights, Cryptojacking became a widespread problem. Crypto mining was becoming a hugely profitable business and thus, the hackers had their eyes on it.
A report published by Check Point Software, a Tel-Aviv, an Israel-based cyber security company, shows that cryptojacking has gained the sixth position in the most common malware list. Even major companies like Tesla were hacked and hit by cryptojacking which infected the automaker’s cloud and kept mining crypto in the background without the company’s knowledge.
Not just that, in 2018, around 4000 UK government websites had been attacked by cryptojacking viruses. To understand cryptojacking better, think of it as a virus that gets into your computer from malicious software and affects your device to mine cryptocurrencies. Cryptohijackers do not only attack computers, but also smartphones and cloud servers, and basically anything from where crypto mining would have been possible.
Once the hackers get hold of a crypto mining device, they use the computing power of that device to mine some part of cryptos for themselves and transfer the mined crypto to their own wallet. In simple words, when someone mines coins from a miner’s devices without the miner’s consent or authorization, it is called cryptojacking.
How Does Crypto-jacking Work?
So how does cryptojacking work? How do cryptojackers hack the mining devices so easily? The process of cryptojacking is not that tough and the lack of entry barrier makes it quite easy for them. They just need a few lines of JavaScript code to hack a device that will mine cryptocurrencies for them in the background.
When miners click on phishing email links, hackers get access to their mining devices easily. Other than that, the hackers also infect a website with some cryptojacking command line that is hidden behind an HTML code and once the user clicks on it, it runs automatically and gives the hacker access to the miner’s device.
The hackers also have been able to spread the virus from one device to another and infect the entire server. This gives them an even higher level of profits as they get to mine even more coins without having to pay any bills and bear any costs.
The cryptojackers are also not interested in fetching your personal data, most of the time they just want to infect your mining device and gain profit from mining coins from your device. Also, the longer they stay undetected or the longer they have access to your mining device, the more coins will they be able to mine.
How to Detect Crypto-jacking?
With technological advancement, even the hackers are getting smarter and bringing innovative ways to hack your device. Their main aim is to infect your device and mine cryptos using your resources in the background. They design the malware just to get this work done. So how will you detect whether your device is hacked? How will you detect cryptojacking in your mining device?
Here are some of the signs that you must look for if you think your device has been infected with a cryptojacking software –
- Overheating
- High usage of CPU
- Increase in battery drainage
- Slower and noisier device
- High rise in your electricity bills
But these signs do not necessarily mean that your device has been infected. You will have to run some tests using good antivirus software. These antiviruses will be able to detect and recognize any such problems in your device.
How to Protect Yourself Against Crypto-jacking?
If you are a crypto miner, keeping your device safe should be one of your topmost priorities. Preventing crypto-jacking is not that difficult. It functions just like other malware. Here are some of the ways that can keep your computer safe –
- Block ads on your device
- Make sure your device has antivirus software installed. Try to invest in a good one
- Hackers use JavaScript to get access to your device, so make sure you disable Javascript on your devices
- Do not visit websites that are not authorized
Crypto is becoming popular day by day and experts also believe that in a few years, it will have the potential to compete with traditional currency as well. So, mining crypto is undoubtedly a great investment. And with the tips mentioned above, you will also stay safe from cryptojacking as well.