How to Prevent Cryptojacking

The rising price of cryptocurrencies has seen hackers race against time to mine these crypto coins using all the resources they can get their hands on. There are legitimate miners who use their own resources to mine crypto coins; however, there are also some hackers who employ their craftiness to mine cryptocurrencies using resources owned by unsuspecting computer users. This is what has come to be known as cryptojacking, a form of hijacking in which hackers hijack your computer resources and use it without your knowledge or permission to achieve their own ends. In this article, our IT support team in Irvine explains the harm that cryptojacking can inflict on your firm’s IT infrastructure and the safety measures you can take to avoid it.

How Does Cryptojacking Work?

Since crypto coin mining is an expensive affair requiring many devices which consume high electricity, this undertaking is unattractive to most small miners and can only make business or economic sense to large scale miners. For this reason, cryptojacking has become attractive to cybercriminals.

According to our experts in IT services in Orange County, cryptojacking can occur in two ways:

1. Malicious emails – The first way is by use of malicious emails which can install crypto mining code on your computer. This malicious emails are used via what is known as phishing attacks where seemingly harmless emails are sent to unsuspecting computer users, when they click on the embedded links a crypto mining script is installed on the machine and it works on the background without the knowledge of the victim.

2. Web browser miner – The second way is by means of a web browser miner in which hackers inject crypto mining scripts on websites or ads and any time an unsuspecting visitor visits these sites, the malicious ads pop up and execute on their machines without their knowledge.

How Can You Detect Cryptojacking?

Our IT support team in Irvine believes that you can easily detect cryptojacking by being on the lookout for the following symptoms:

• Unusually slow or sluggish response times
• High processor usage
• Overheating of the devices

What Measures Can You Adopt to Prevent Cryptojacking?

You can prevent cryptojacking by:

• Being watchful of every email that comes into your organization
• Analyzing both inbound and outbound traffic
• Using extra layers of protection to keep hackers away
• Using highly effective anti-virus and anti-malware
• Using anti-cryptomining extensions on your web browsers

Parting Shot

Cryptojacking has the potential of frustrating your efforts towards ensuring smooth operations of your IT systems. Partnering with a skilled IT support provider in Irvine will help you deal with this menace. If looking for a reliable MSP for your IT security needs, look no further. At Technijian Corporation, we have what it takes to protect your firm against a wide range of IT security threats, cryptojacking included. Contact us today to learn more.