Mobile phones having web connecting interface have indeed changed our lives to such an extent that there is hardly any human being on earth who could stay away from his/her device for more than 10 hours. But experts have warned that keeping your phone connected to the web on a constant note can invite unnecessary trouble in the form of ‘Cryptojacking’.
As the first sign of infection citing you will observe that your phone has slowed down, warmed up and the battery has drained down for no obvious reason.
Cyber experts say that all these signs indicate that your phone has been hijacked to mine bitcoins and other digital currencies like Monero in a new type of attack called “Cryptojacking”.
It’s said that such malware creeps into the device through malicious apps that may contain hidden code that can take control of a device’s processor and set it to work for hackers.
After the attack, as the processor struggles to keep up with the commands given by the phone user in parallel to the crypto mining malware, it starts to show signs such as slow down, freezing, are always more than warm enough to touch. In some cases, the malware can heat up the smartphone and tablets to such an extent that they get ruined.
Mining Bitcoins, Monero and Ethereum are proving profitable these days and in order to save investments from paying electricity bills, hackers are seen opting for cheaper mining options such as using processors of smartphones operating around the world in an unauthorized way.
Note- Crypto coins are generated when an individual is rewarded by the network for their large amounts of computing services. Thus, legitimate mining operations use a series of processor operations together in order to increase the computing power of a machine to earn cryptocurrency.
According to security analysts from ESET, crypto jacking mostly affects smartphones running on Google’s Android operating system.
As the said malware is often transferred to smartphones via apps, experts say that mobile phone users should be cautious while downloading and using them. Unlike Google Android, Apple exercises more control over apps that can be installed on its phones, so hackers have target iPhones on an occasional note.
Now, to those who want some tips to isolate their phones from Cryptojacking, here are some-
1.) Download apps (mainly related to gaming) from the legitimate marketplace like Playstore
2.) Never keep your phone connected to the web on a constant note as most of the crypto jacking apps need to stay connected to remote servers on a constant note in order to mine crypto. That means, just connect to the mobile data or wi-fi when needed.
3.) Install an anti-virus program on your device and keep the phone’s OS updated with the latest security updates.
4.) Never click on suspicious email links which appear to come from malevolent resources
The post Save your smartphone from Cryptojacking by disconnecting it from Web appeared first on Cybersecurity Insiders.
August 24, 2018 at 10:31AM
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