Crypto Worry and Peace

Take a glance at the most discussed cybersecurity topics of the week.

Are you sure ransomware is worse than cryptojacking?

Dark Reading on July 3, 2018

Cryptojacking is gaining popularity and now considered the second most common attack vector after ransomware that is especially dangerous for businesses. While ransomware is complicated and involves research, social engineering, and a great deal of time and effort, cryptojacking is not as difficult and time-consuming. Probably, that is why cybercriminals widely use it.

Cryptojacking refers to the illegal activities of mining cryptocurrencies, stealing by leveraging the computer power from devices of an unsuspecting user to secretly mine cryptocurrency. It can also mean stealing already mined cryptocurrency from someone’s crypto wallet.

Although the device has not been infected with ransomware, the user experiences a problem. The system becomes slower than molasses in January! And if the CPU performance is maxed out, the process may destroy the computer.

If you do not use an anti-malware program or service that blocks cryptominers, your computer is susceptible to cryptojaking that is quick, untraceable cash for perpetrators. Other protective measures that must be taken are described in the article “Ransomware vs. Cryptojacking”.

Are your phone apps actually watching you?

ZdNet on July 4, 2018

Humans are always wary of being eavesdropped on or watched by apps. In fact, it was discovered that none of apps use microphones and send out files without permission. But what they do is still ‘alarming’.

Privacy risks were found in the Android ecosystem. It turns out that some apps send media files to third parties and users do not consent to it. Recordings contain screen and video of how people are interacting with the software. And users do not know this fact. Developers just track user actions to understand how people use the app.

Thermanator attack reads fingertips and steals passwords

ZdNet on July 5, 2018

New attack vectors appear from time to time and now an attacker with a thermal camera can catch credentials typed on a keyboard one minute after the victim enters them.

While the victim is absent, the camera, which was set up before, promptly takes images to harvest the heat from his or her fingers on the keyboard. Then the thermal energy is analyzed and determine the keys manually or with the help of some software. The attack was dubbed Thermanator. And users who type with two fingers are particularly prone to it.

So do not type your password with bare fingers and walk away, or if you do, hackers will take advantage of this.

As usual, this overview has shed light on cyber risks and curious cases seen in cybersecurity realm.