Cryptojacking is up 459% in 2018, and it’s the NSA’s Fault

[SuperBazooka]

Cryptojacking is up 459% in 2018, and it’s the NSA’s Fault
A report from the Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) indicates a massive 459% increase in the rate of illegal cryptojacking, through which hackers hijack computer processing power to mine cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and monero.

As CCN recently reported, the Indian government was recently targeted in a cyberattack which hijacked processing power from government website servers to mine cryptocurrency.

Computers infected with cryptojacking malware are used to mine cryptocurrency networks like monero. The funds are sent to the hacker in control of the software, slowing down the owner’s computer, often without them realizing they’re infected.

The massive surge in cryptojacking is attributed to the leak of EternalBlue, a tool used to exploit vulnerabilities in Windows-based systems. Windows and the NSA both have their share of the blame for the leak, which occurred in April 2017 when a group calling themselves the Shadow Brokers put a packet of stolen NSA tools on the market.
https://www.ccn.com/cryptojacking-is-up-459-in-2018-and-its-the-nsas-fault/

[stompix]

Nope, it's the fault of :

a) the one using the exploit
b) the admins that are supposed to take care of that and who haven't patched it although :

A patch for EternalBlue has been available for 18 months

As for the Indian case,

ET reached out to JA Chowdary, IT advisor to the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, about the malwareaffected websites on September 10. “Thanks for notifying us about the AP website hacking,” said Chowdary in a response to the alert. Mails and calls to AP IT secretary Vijay Anand remained answered.

However, as on September 16, the websites continue to run the scripts

This is pure incompetence!!!