Over the last few years, malicious attacks and fraud have been rampant in the cryptocurrency industry. Bad actors have come up with new and improved ways to scout their victims with a lot of falling prey because they ignore the basic rules on digital platforms.
Kaspersky’s recent report revealed that countries like Singapore had become a hotspot for malicious movements like cryptojacking. Twenty-twenty spelt problems as the organization pointed out an increase in virtual asset fraud in the first three months of the year.
This is not the first time this issue has been addressed with an analysis of 2019, which also shows a record increase in cryptocurrency-related attacks. In its report, Kaspersky was careful to mention the concentrated focus of hackers on the South Asian market. In the first three months of 2020 alone, Kaspersky blocked more than 11,700 cryptojack attacks. What made this information more shocking was the fact that all these attempts were made in Singapore alone.
This massive increase in fraud was a giant leap from the 2900 hacking attempts that occurred in the first quarter of 2019. The growing dominance of South East Asia in the digital asset world has been cited as the main reason for this uptick. Countries like Singapore and China have made news on a number of occasions because of their close ties to the digital asset ecosystem. In layman’s terms, cryptojacking is the unauthorized use of someone else’s cryptocurrency device.
Speaking about the growing number of cryptojacking cases within the Asian market, Kaspersky General Manager for South-East Asia Yeo Sian Tiong said:
“Cryptojacking, or malicious mining, is the unauthorised use of someone else’s device to mine cryptocurrency. Cyber criminals use various means to install miner programs on other people’s computers, preferably in bulk, and take all of the profit from cryptocurrency mining without incurring any of the equipment or electricity costs.”
Research has shown that hackers have used basic techniques such as phishing and fake links to lure victims to reveal their private information. This was then used to get into their cryptocurrency wallets and transfer all their assets to the scammer’s kitty. Some even use user data to access their computing power to mine cryptocurrencies. Sources say that it was no longer profitable to mine cryptocurrency using one’s own equipment during the current market condition. This prompted a number of users to choose a cryptojacking path.
Kaspersky added that since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns began, the jump in cryptojacking cases has been astounding. The concept of Home Work has given ample time for people to engage in nefarious activities leading to the suffering of others. Officials like Mr. Lim have informed users that they should remain vigilant online and never disclose personal information or click on suspicious links that may be sent to them.
