he global boom in crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin is not going unnoticed by cyber criminals, and while crypto-currencies have been synonymous with ransomwareattacks, cyber criminals are now looking to crypto-jacking to mine these coins.

Crypto-jacking is the unauthorised use of an individual's device to mine crypto-currencies. Cyber criminals employ malware to take over computers, tablets or smartphones, and covertly use a portion of their processing power to mine crypto-currencies.

This is according to a recent report by Panda Security, which claims crypto-jacking is defining 2018 in terms of cyber security, and was the primary threat to the security and performance of electronic devices throughout the first half of the year.

Crypto-currencies have become the gold of the 21st century, notes Panda.

"[In the first half of the year] we have seen 2.4 million instances of this attack, which is booming among black hat hackers," says Panda. "The more computing power they can hijack, the faster they can mine, which is also giving rise to fights between different attackers trying to gain control of as much of a user's CPU as possible."