Countering Cryptojacking with

Intel vPro and BlackBerry

Quickly Detect Cryptomining Activity at the hardware level.

Problem

Crypotojacking, or the use of unauthorized or stolen computing resources for cryptomining, is a subtle but serious threat to organizations worldwide. In 2018, infecting machines with cryptomining malware surpassed ransomware as a top cyber threat1. Recently in Europe, multiple supercomputers in the U.K., Germany, Spain, and Switzerland were infected with cryptomining malware and forced to shut down2. While supercomputers and large processing centers make appealing targets for cryptojackers, many attackers prefer infecting business desktops, laptops, and mobile devices. Businesses who prefer cloud computing will find no refuge, as cryptojackers have refined methods for creating cloud compute instances to run cryptomining code3.

What Is Cryptomining?

At the most basic level, cryptomining is receiving digital currency for using processors to solve complex mathematical puzzles.

For example, Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, was built upon the concept of creating a decentralized financial network. This distributed model, known as blockchain, does not use a trusted centralized ledger, but shares the financial record across multiple nodes. When a bitcoin miner solves a puzzle, it broadcasts its answer to the validating network of Bitcoin nodes. If 51% of the nodes confirm the answer, the miner is rewarded with bitcoins and the resulting transaction is added to the blockchain4.

Bitcoins are designed to be successfully mined at an average pace of ten minutes apart. This rate is achieved by increasing the complexity of the puzzles to reflect the computing power currently committed to mining. As more computing power is harnessed to mine bitcoins, the complexity of the puzzles increases. Miners have reacted to this increasing complexity by searching for better processors to increase their chances of solving the puzzle first. They upgraded from using CPUs, to high-end GPUs, and ultimately on to specialized mining hardware called ….