The explosive growth and surge of interest in cryptocurrencies over the past couple of years is well documented—fueled in part by the stunning rise of Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency in use today. For many C-suite executives, the cryptocurrency phenomenon is intriguing but insanely complicated, involving 'blockchain' and 'distributed ledgers' and other jargon. What does the cryptocurrency boom have to do with business?

The short answer is that cryptocurrency introduces a host of new cybersecurity threats, which in turn create new risks for the enterprise. Many companies have already fallen victim to illicit 'cryptocurrency mining' without even being fully aware of the nature or cost of the attacks.

It is increasingly urgent that business leaders understand and respond to these new risks because the sophistication of the attackers and the magnitude of the impacts are on the rise. Fortunately, defending against the risks of illicit cryptocurrency mining does not require specialized security solutions or major disruptions to current security practices. The purpose of this report is to:

Summarize the nature of cryptocurrency threats to enterprises

Explain how these threats could impact your business and its employees
Provide actionable steps to mitigate the risks
The report is based on groundbreaking research and analysis from Unit 42, the global threat intelligence team at Palo Alto Networks.