Cryptojacking Report: Attacks Are On The Rise In Mexico

The latest cryptojacking report shows that the attacks are on the rise in Mexico as a well-known cloud service providers can’t stop the hackers to launch a cryptojacking attacks on Mexican organizations and local companies complained that they experienced a few more attacks lately. In our cryptocurrency news sites today we find out more.

The recent report revealed that 70% of organizations in Mexico utilize cloud services and their networks are heavily exposed to external threats as local companies complained that the number of cryptojacking cases increased over the past year. The cryptojacking report also shows that the fraudulent groups are related to cases when they attack unauthorized access in mobile devices or a computer to mine cryptocurrencies. Russian-based cybersecurity company Kaspersky said that the number of such attacks surged significantly in the first quarter of 2020.

Another report highlighted that Mexican organizations are quite attractive targets for cryptojacking attacks as numerous companies reported that after the investigations they found that their networks have been employed different mining methods for cryptocurrencies without disclosing which digital assets have been mined. The General Director of Sales for Latin American cloud company Netskope, Alain Karioty explained that cryptojacking attacks are easier to deploy because the population is still unaware of the threat and added that the organizations have to enhance their security protocols and education if they want to get away from such activities.

The report compiled by the UK-based security software company Sophos blamed the lack some proper countermeasures from Mexican organizations are the main reason for a large number of cryptojacking attacks. Ransomware is another popular form of attack where the fraudsters insert malware on larger networks to encrypt sensitive information or steal them. To return access to these materials, the attackers demand ransoms in cryptocurrency but unfortunately for Mexico, the country has seen the fair share of such attacks as well.

One example came later in 2019 when the state-owned petrol company Petroleos Mexicanos was hacked. The company had to shut down all of its systems across the country as the attackers later contacted Pemex and requested $5 million ransomware in Bitcoin. The economy minister of the country detected a similar attack when an unknown organization infiltrated some of the servers but the ministry said that “sensitive information, as well as that of the users, is not considered compromised.”