More attacks with the use of cryptocurrency excavators. Ransomware less popular.

Microsoft informs that corporate security specialists are observing more and more attacks, during which victims' computers are infected with software that extracts cryptocurrencies. At the same time, the number of attacks using ransomware is dropping.

Between September last year and January this year, Microsoft detected on average 644,000 Windows computers per month that were infected with software for digging cryptocurrencies. Mechanisms for extracting cryptocurrencies have been added to many known families of malicious code. There are fewer computers infected with ransomware.

It is unlikely that cybercriminals will completely abandon ransomware in the near future, but the increase in attacks using Trojan horses containing code for extracting cryptocurrencies shows that criminals are trying new ways of illegally earning money, writes the report prepared by the Windows Defender Research department.

Cybercriminals have also launched many video streaming sites to which they are trying to attract Internet users to infect their computers. However, they are much more likely to infect third-party websites with their code and they attack users' computers.

Another problem is employees who install such software on company computers themselves. This is especially evident in the case of companies with high computing power. Some employees use this fact to get extra money. The presence of this software in company networks does not necessarily mean that an attack has occurred. This, however, is becoming an increasingly serious problem because it consumes valuable computing powers that are installed to support the company's processes. Software for digging cryptocurrencies also causes a higher consumption of electricity by computers, which exposes the company to additional costs, say Microsoft's representatives.