Preventing the Next Ransomware Attack
2018 is quickly moving by us, and while we have yet to see an attack on the scale of 2017’s WannaCry or NotPetya, it’s clear that the adversaries are not letting up on their mission to line their pockets at our expense. Ransomware has dominated the headlines for the last two years, while 2018 shows a trend towards diversity in attacker methods.
The growing cryptocurrency market is opening up new and tempting opportunities for hackers to compromise systems for their gain. Cryptomining attacks leverage ransomware-like tactics to gain access to machines, but with a payload focused on the machine itself, not its data.
Recently, our security researchers observed hackers utilizing WannaMine, a cryptomining worm, to steal system resources and mine cryptocurrency. WannaMine exploits remote systems with the EternalBlue exploit, the same exploit used in the WannaCry and NotPetya ransomware attacks.
