Even though cryptojacking, i.e. the illegitimate use of a system’s resourcing powers for mining cryptocurrency, is a serious threat to organizations, a new survey by Exabeam found that a majority (57%) of infosec professionals don’t even know what it is. In addition, 65% of respondents were not familiar with shadow mining, which is cryptojacking performed by a malicious insider.
When asked about the top security threats to organizations, many security professionals pointed to ransomware (40%) and bring your own device (BYOD) threats (28%), while only a small minority mentioned shadow mining (10% percent) and cryptojacking (9%). Barry Shteiman of Exabeam points out that “[g]iven the rise of cryptocurrencies, IT teams need to realize that shadow mining is a significant threat and should be given more consideration.”
Read more: Cryptojacking Still a Foreign Concept for Many Security Pros
