What is CryptoJacking and what is it all about?

Cryptojacking (also called malicious cryptomining) is an emerging online threat that hides on your computer or mobile device and uses the machine's resources to 'mine' forms of online money known as cryptocurrencies. It is a growing threat that can hijack web browsers as well as compromise all types of devices, from desktops and laptops to smartphones and even web servers.

Like most other malicious attacks on the computer community, the motive is profit, but unlike many threats, it is designed to remain completely hidden from the user.

Cryptojacking is malware that targets an infected device and stealthily mines cryptocurrency. The attacker uses the computing power of the infected computer. The cryptocurrency mining malware responsible for such activities only uses enough system resources to remain unnoticed for as long as possible. Since mining cryptocurrencies requires a lot of computing power, hackers try to break into many devices. In this way, they are able to accumulate enough computing resources to perform low-risk mining activities. Over the past few years, very sophisticated types of this malware have been created, taking cryptojacking to a whole new level. Today, most mining malware runs through scripts that are implemented on websites.