If your users have noticed that their processor slows when they visit your site, it may have been infected by mining virtual currencies. In recent months infections related to cryptocurrencies have increased dangerously. Bitcoins, blockchain or monero, but how can you relate them with your users?
How an attack that mines cryptocurrencies affects your users CPU
There are platforms that convert website visits into CPU resources used to mine virtual currencies. That make owners to earn bitcoins as it is a way to monetize the website. In this case instead clicking on an advertisement, using the processor of their users.
An example of these platforms is coin-hive. The mechanism is to provide a code to the administrator in order to install it on the website. This code is the one that will execute a silent process in the users browser, mining coins using the computation capacity or CPU of your computer or laptop.
Although the concept of web mining is fairly new, it is not web attackers. They take advantage of licit monetization methods, abusing and appropriating other websites. In this case your users notice it. They are quickly affected visiting your website as their CPU overloads and everything starts to slow down.
A common practice in web-based attacks is to use malicious advertising. The goal is to get clicks to direct the benefits directly to the account of who has infected the website. It’s a simple way to make a profit from monetization. The concept of malware is the same. The attackers who inject the malware configure their code on your website to mine bitcoins thanks to your users.
How to prevent your site from being the victim of a cryptocurrencies mining attack
This type of attacks will be more and more frequent, adding to the ‘traditional’ malware. And not just for WordPress, Joomla or Magento websites. Any website is exposed.
In order to prevent this type of attacks we advise to:
- Do a continuous maintenance of your website. In addition to the necessary web security actions, you can know daily the status of your files and the vulnerabilities by which you can be attacked, to be able to act.
- Implement specific security actions as two-factor validation or protect your website with a password.
- An application firewall that blocks malicious attacks. Not only will it block them by increasing the performance of your website, but it will protect you in case you can not solve known vulnerabilities that expose your web to the attackers.
If you have already suffered the consequences of this type of attacks and you need immediate help, you have our services of custom malware cleaning and web securization.
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