Security report finds Monero leads in "cryptojacking" exploits

A new cybersecurity report said privacy protocol Monero was used in most of the cryptojacking attacks traced this year.

Titled "Attacks in the Wild on Container Infrastructure," the report by Aqua Security claimed to have analyzed over 16,371 attacks on software containers and cloud-native infrastructure over June 2019 and July 2020.Aqua Security said it saw a 250% spike in attacks on its cloud honeypots since the end of 2019 and start of 2020.

Such attacks are said to siphon hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

Per the report, cryptojacking attacks in the second half of 2019 and the first half of 2020, surged by over 250%. Overall, cryptojacking accounted for a staggering 95% of the 16,371 cyber attacks registered during that period, the report added.

The firm said hackers mainly used Monero-based mining tools in the cryptojacking attacks.

Aqua Security said XMRig, a well-known Monero mining app, was used in most instances to deploy the attacks.

Aqua Security said that the involvement of organized cybercrime groups had led to both an increased occurrence of such attacks and their complexity.

From scanning the internet for cloud servers exposed online without a password, exploiting vulnerabilities in unpatched systems, and carrying out brute-force attacks, hacker groups have been recently orchestrating supply-chain attacks, the firm noted.

Being installed, making it impossible to detect static analysis or signature-based security systems.

Earlier this year, the firm said cryptojacking attacks had risen by over 163% in the second quarter of 2020 alone and was expected to rise further.