Question 1

How significant is the threat to our residential broadband customers?

Accepted Answer

Cryptocurrency-related activity now accounts for 59% of all home network attacks, representing a fundamental shift in the consumer threat landscape. With 2.5 million home networks detected running unauthorized mining activities every week, service providers face increased network congestion and higher support costs due to degraded device performance.

Question 2

Is this a passing trend or a long-term infrastructure risk?

Accepted Answer

The volume of cryptocurrency mining cyber-attacks grew by 50% in 2017, peaking at 1.6 million malware detections in December alone. As the global footprint of IoT devices is forecasted to reach 18.1 billion by 2022, the incentive for criminals to hijack distributed computing power will only intensify.

Question 3

What are the primary operational risks beyond simple electricity theft?

Accepted Answer

The most critical risk is the disruption of service continuity, which can lead to the loss of business-critical assets or even life-safety functions. While 50% growth in attacks highlights the financial motivation of criminals, the resulting strain on hijacked hardware can cause permanent damage to the 18.1 billion devices expected in the ecosystem by 2022.

IoT & Cryptocurrency Mining: Cyber Security Update

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