McAfee details rise in blockchain threats, cryptocurrency attacks

McAfee's new 'Blockchain Threat Report' charts a dramatic rise in cryptomining malware and details four major attack vectors for cryptocurrency-related threats A new McAfee report on blockchain threats shows cryptomining malware grew more than 600% in the first quarter this year. McAfee's "Blockchain Threat Report" details the massive increase in cyberattacks against cryptocurrency owners, exchanges and other companies leveraging blockchain as the value of those cryptocurrencies has surged over the last year. Steve Povolny, head of advanced threat research at McAfee, said the intent of the report is to create a baseline for the industry as it deals with increased blockchain threats that use many of the same attack techniques and methods of the last five to 10 years. "We've seen an explosion in cryptocurrency value recently," Povolny said. "Hundreds of them were created in a very short time, and now we're seeing threat actors trying to capitalize on that value." While attackers have learned to adopt different attack methods that target both consumers and businesses, according to McAfee researchers, the four major attack vectors include familiar threats like phishing, malware, implementation vulnerabilities and technology.