Sweden Sees Surge of Cybercrime with Crypto-Jacking Cases up 10,000%
- Criminals are switching to hijacking victims' computers to mine cryptocurrency

With the rise of the Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Read this Term technology, we have seen the birth of a new type of cybercrime - crypto-jacking. In Sweden, this new scheme is currently enjoying a worrying growth as more and more electronic devices are getting attacked by hackers, reported TheLocal.se.
According to cybersecurity firm Symantec, the number of cyber security threats, as well as the number of methods to access data illegally, exploit computer power and extort money is steadily increasing.
What is crypto-jacking?
Crypto-jacking is basically the process of using the computation power of a person’s device to mine cryptocurrencies without their consent. This is mainly done to mine coins like Monero and Bytecoin, which are more CPU-friendly than major coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“The explosive growth in coin mining was one of the biggest trends on the cyber security threat landscape in 2017,” Symantec said.
A file or script, known as 'coinminer', is used by hackers to mine cryptocurrencies with the victims’ devices. This type of crime is as lucrative as it is hard to detect, as the victim is not enduring any immediate loss and in most cases won't even notice that their computer is being used, other than it feeling slower than usual.
Hackers are even switching from ransom-based malwares like Ransomware to crypto-jacking due to the latter's high risk-reward ratio.
Cyber-criminals are even targeting large enterprise rigs to mine cryptocurrencies, as was the case with the hijacking of Tesla’s cloud environment. Other companies like Aviva and Gemalta have also become victims of such crimes last year.
“Cybercriminals will continue to try and harness more and more of our resources for mining. So while a great portion of these threats are browser-based, hijacking PCs, Macs and smartphones, attackers are moving to obtain more processing power to drive greater profit,” Symantec’s director of Security Response Kevin Haley told The Verge.
With the rise of the Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Read this Term technology, we have seen the birth of a new type of cybercrime - crypto-jacking. In Sweden, this new scheme is currently enjoying a worrying growth as more and more electronic devices are getting attacked by hackers, reported TheLocal.se.
According to cybersecurity firm Symantec, the number of cyber security threats, as well as the number of methods to access data illegally, exploit computer power and extort money is steadily increasing.
What is crypto-jacking?
Crypto-jacking is basically the process of using the computation power of a person’s device to mine cryptocurrencies without their consent. This is mainly done to mine coins like Monero and Bytecoin, which are more CPU-friendly than major coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“The explosive growth in coin mining was one of the biggest trends on the cyber security threat landscape in 2017,” Symantec said.
A file or script, known as 'coinminer', is used by hackers to mine cryptocurrencies with the victims’ devices. This type of crime is as lucrative as it is hard to detect, as the victim is not enduring any immediate loss and in most cases won't even notice that their computer is being used, other than it feeling slower than usual.
Hackers are even switching from ransom-based malwares like Ransomware to crypto-jacking due to the latter's high risk-reward ratio.
Cyber-criminals are even targeting large enterprise rigs to mine cryptocurrencies, as was the case with the hijacking of Tesla’s cloud environment. Other companies like Aviva and Gemalta have also become victims of such crimes last year.
“Cybercriminals will continue to try and harness more and more of our resources for mining. So while a great portion of these threats are browser-based, hijacking PCs, Macs and smartphones, attackers are moving to obtain more processing power to drive greater profit,” Symantec’s director of Security Response Kevin Haley told The Verge.