Cybercrime riding on cryptocurrency craze on the rise

Global IT security firm Trend Micro has warned against the proliferation of fraudulent online schemes that ride on the hype around cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin and Monero.

“The hype around cryptocurrencies as an investment has emerged as another opportunity for cybercriminals to victimize people looking to make a fast buck,” Trend Micro director for technology marketing Myla Pilao said.

“The technology behind cryptocurrencies is actually revolutionary from a cybersecurity standpoint because it allows digital information to be distributed without being altered,” Pilao noted.

But cryptocurrencies may similarly be used as baits by cybercriminals. Just recently, attackers capitalized on the hype to market a dummy cryptocurrency called Sprite coin online.

Some users were lured into an initial coin offering by downloading a wallet application that turned out to be a ransomware. Criminals successfully went after the victims’ files and demanded money in exchange.

As mining involves exhausting vast amounts of resources, meanwhile, Trend Micro has observed numerous cases of “cryptojacking” where attackers employ mining scripts into online advertisements and other websites.

Last month, Trend Micro discovered attackers embedding Coinhive web miners on Google’s online advertisement platform, DoubleClick, and were able to use victims’ computer resources to mine cryptocurrency without their consent.

Also cited were cases where attackers hijacked public Wi-Fi networks by secretly embedding cryptocurrency-mining software on pages loaded through the wifi. A similar software was discovered on some video streaming and video conversion websites where users spend a lot of time.