Report: CryptoJacking Up 8,500pct in Q4, 2017

[engine]

It probably won't come as a surprise to read reports that cryptojacking is up, but the figure is astounding, 8,500%, according to a report from Symantec. It also says that "coin mining rose by 34,000 percent in 2017."

The report says that it's easier to mine other people's CPUs than to install a virus on a computer.

The attacks make up 24 percent of all online attacks blocked in last December, and 16 percent of online attacks blocked in the last three months of 2017, correlating with the spikes in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies’ prices last year. Report: CryptoJacking Up 8,500pct in Q4, 2017 [theverge.com]

[keyplyr]

That's a lot of unaware users getting hit. I would assume a large number are company machines using older OS. Seems they would at least hear the fans going berserk.

Windows 10 keeps updating Defender to catch the latest strains of cryptojacking. Edge blocks by default, as does Chrome. Android for Chromebook catches it AFAIK. Mobile phones with limited CPU are off their radar I assume.