Cryptojacking
Noun · Security & Infosec · Origin: 2017
Definitions
The unauthorized use of someone else's computing resources to mine cryptocurrency, often via malicious scripts on websites or compromised servers.
In plain English: Secretly using other people's computers to mine cryptocurrency — they pay the electricity bill, the hacker keeps the coins.
Browser-based cryptojacking peaked around 2017-2018 when Coinhive offered a JavaScript miner that website owners could embed to mine Monero using visitors' CPUs. Coinhive shut down in 2019, but server-side cryptojacking via compromised cloud instances continues to grow.
Example: 'Our AWS bill spiked 400% overnight. Turned out someone compromised an exposed Docker socket and deployed crypto miners across our entire cluster.'
Source: historical / cloud context
Etymology
- 2017
- Coinhive launches a JavaScript-based Monero miner intended for website monetization, but it is immediately weaponized by attackers
- 2018
- 'Cryptojacking' is coined as a portmanteau; it becomes the most detected threat category, surpassing ransomware
- 2019
- Coinhive shuts down as Monero's declining value and browser countermeasures make the scheme unprofitable
Related Terms
- Ransomware
- Reverse Shell
- Incident Response
- Data Breach
- Botnet Command and Control
- Domain Generation Algorithm
- Fileless Malware
- Logic Bomb
- Malware
- Malware Analysis
- Malware Sandbox
- YARA Rule
- Anti-Debug Technique
- Anti-Emulation
- Backdoor Detection
- Beacon
- Boot Sector Virus
- C2 Server
- Cold Storage
- Custom Exploit
- Custom Payload
- DLL Injection
- Implant
- IoT Botnet
- Key Logger
- Memory Injection
- Polymorphic Malware