Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 25 | Page 35

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// suspect the presence of malware activity if the computer is noisier and consumes more power than usual. According to Mike McLellan, a senior security researcher at the SecureWorks Counter Threat Unit, cryptocurrency mining represents a good return on investment and a low-risk way of doing it because it leaves the user unaware that their machine is infected, which means rather www.intelligentcio.com than providing payment in one quick hit like ransomware, the operation can be sustained for a long period of time. Plus, it doesn’t matter to the attacker where the victim resides in the world, providing a huge target market for the attacker. The code behind cryptojacking malware is relatively simple and it can be delivered via phishing campaigns, malvertising, compromised websites, or even software downloads. Once on a computer system, the game is all FEATURE: CYBERSECURITY Ashraf Sheet, Regional Director, Middle East and Africa at Infoblox INTELLIGENTCIO 35