McAfee: Cryptomining and IoT malware both rose over 70% in Q3 2018

Cybersecurity firm McAfee said that the cybercriminal underworld is generating 480 new threats per minute. That’s one of the details in the new McAfee Labs Threats Report: December 2018. McAfee reported that internet of things malware was up 73 percent in the third quarter, while cryptocurrency mining malware was up 71 percent, even as the value of many cryptocurrencies have declined. Meanwhile, the ripple effect of the 2017 takedowns of Hansa and AlphaBay dark web markets continued as entrepreneurial cybercriminals took new measures to evade law enforcement. “Cybercriminals are eager to weaponize vulnerabilities both new and old, and the number of services now available on underground markets has dramatically increased their effectiveness,” said Christiaan Beek, lead scientist at McAfee, in a statement. “As long as ransoms are paid and relatively easy attacks, such as phishing campaigns, are successful, bad actors will continue to use these techniques. Following up-and-coming trends on the underground markets and hidden forums allow the cybersecurity community to defend against current attacks and stay a step ahead of those in our future.”