Crypto Mining Infection Simulation Added to Show if a Workstation is Vulnerable to Infection

Tampa Bay, FL, Sept. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, today announced it has released a new version of its Ransomware Simulator “RanSim” tool that includes a crypto mining infection scenario. The RanSim tool provides insight into the effectiveness of existing network protections for organizations and simulates more than a dozen ransomware infection scenarios including the crypto mining infection scenario.

This new crypto mining scenario simulates a Monero cryptocurrency-mining operation on the local machine. Monero mining is the most popular cryptocurrency mined by real-world malware and takes a lot of CPU and GPU cycles to process the data necessary to generate the currencies.

According to a report from Coherent Market Insights, the global cryptocurrency mining market was valued at $610.01 million in 2016 and is expected to reach $38.38 billion by 2025. Recent research from Secureworks also found that there’s been a significant increase in cyptocurrency mining malware, noting the “cumulative effect of large-scale unauthorized cryptocurrency mining in an enterprise environment can be significant as it consumes computational resources and forces business-critical assets to slow down or stop functioning effectively.”

“When a machine is infected with crypto mining software, its performance slows to a crawl,” said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO, KnowBe4.  “It is a good idea to check for this type of infection scenario before your organization is impacted. This tool is available at no-charge to help IT pros identify weaknesses in their networks, put stronger defense-in-depth strategies in place and stop the spread of crypto mining.”

The RanSim tool is a harmless simulation of real ransomware and crypto mining infections. It does not use any of your own files. The tool requires you to download the install and run it, then you receive results in a few minutes.  

To download the RanSim tool with the new crypto mining feature, please visit https://www.knowbe4.com/ransomware-simulator.  

About KnowBe4

KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s largest integrated security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, is used by more than 20,000 organizations worldwide. Founded by data and IT security expert Stu Sjouwerman, KnowBe4 helps organizations address the human element of security by raising awareness of ransomware, CEO fraud and other social engineering tactics through a new-school approach to security awareness training. Kevin Mitnick, internationally recognized computer security expert and KnowBe4’s Chief Hacking Officer, helped design KnowBe4’s training based on his well-documented social engineering tactics. Tens of thousands of organizations worldwide trust KnowBe4 to mobilize their employees as their last line of defense.

Number 96 on the 2018 Inc. 500 list, #70 on 2017 Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 and #2 in Cybersecurity Ventures Cybersecurity 500. KnowBe4 is headquartered in Tampa Bay, Florida with European offices in England, the Netherlands, Germany and offices in South Africa and Singapore.

Amanda Tarantino
KnowBe4
7277484221
amandat@knowbe4.com

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