Singapore Sees 300% Yearly Spike in Q1 Cryptojacking Attacks Amid COVID-19
Data published by Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky indicates that Singapore has seen a significant increase in the prevalence of attempted cryptojacking attacks during the first quarter of 2020. Kaspersky estimates that 11,700 attacks were attempted on devices located in Singapore from January until March — up from 2,900 as of the first Q1 2019.
Tiong asserts that the increasing difficulty of mining incentivizes cryptojackers seeking to command a botnet network rather than targeting individual devices, stating: The cybersecurity head at law firm Eversheds Harry Elias, K.K. Lim, attributed the recent increase in cryptojacking attacks to large numbers of individuals working from home, or WFH, amid the COVID-19 pandemic creating lots of low-hanging fruit for attackers. In April, security firm Acronis echoed the assertions of Eversheds and Kaspersky, estimating that the later weeks of March saw a dramatic spike in the number of crypto mining attacks targeting consumers.
