The manipulation of cryptocurrency for unlawful cyber acts may be the newfound goal of cybercriminals, according to reports from The Hill.
An Overview of the Looming Danger
McAfee, an established cybersecurity firm, has determined that the creation of cybersecurity malware has surged by 86% in the second quarter of this year. To make matters even worse, the aforementioned trend is the continuation of a pattern which has maintained over a period of months.
As one of the most prominently recognized forms of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is a prime target. Retaining a market value of $232 billion, roughly $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin has faced theft within the past couple of years.
Furthermore, senior professional engineer and lead scientist Christiaan Beek has even more somber news:
“Today, the tremendous volume of such devices online and their propensity for weak passwords present a very attractive platform for this activity. If I were a cybercriminal who owns a botnet of 100,000 such [internet of things] IoT devices, it would cost me next to nothing financially to produce enough cryptocurrency to create a new, profitable revenue stream.”
