AI-driven web security company DNSFilter (dnsfilter.com) released its annual Domain Threat Report. Their research spans March 2020 through August 2021, but they found more than the COVID pandemic impacted end users' interaction with malicious sites. They identified trends among sites related to cryptocurrency, unemployment, and more.
According to the report, 11.47% of COVID-related queries during the pandemic were malicious—that's more than 1-in-10. Although media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic has recently waned, the opportunity for malicious domains capitalizing on COVID-related searches continues. The shape these threats have taken has changed, with unemployment scams (a result of pandemic benefits) in mid-2021 surging.
Cryptomining has also had a resurgence over the last year as blockchain technology and NFTs rise in popularity. Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Litecoin are more likely to be cryptomining sites, while copycat domains of Bitcoin are more likely to be phishing. 18.72% of cryptomining sites actively include terms relating to "mining" or "coin." These sites are not necessarily hiding their intentions.
read more (download report)
According to the report, 11.47% of COVID-related queries during the pandemic were malicious—that's more than 1-in-10. Although media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic has recently waned, the opportunity for malicious domains capitalizing on COVID-related searches continues. The shape these threats have taken has changed, with unemployment scams (a result of pandemic benefits) in mid-2021 surging.
Cryptomining has also had a resurgence over the last year as blockchain technology and NFTs rise in popularity. Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Litecoin are more likely to be cryptomining sites, while copycat domains of Bitcoin are more likely to be phishing. 18.72% of cryptomining sites actively include terms relating to "mining" or "coin." These sites are not necessarily hiding their intentions.
read more (download report)
