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Typesetting surveys update

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Thesis.bib
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@ -14,6 +14,13 @@
urldate = {2018-07-02}
}
@online{monerokirk,
author = {Berta Bilbao},
title = {Kirk Ransomware},
year = 2017,
url = {https://sensorstechforum.com/kirk-ransomware-remove-restore-kirked-files/},
urldate = {2019-31-03}
}
@InProceedings{monerohistory,
author="Sun, Shi-Feng
and Au, Man Ho

148
Thesis.tex
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@ -892,6 +892,19 @@ Malware that encrypts user files and then demands a ransom in the form of crypto
As malware developers started to get their coins targeted by projects such as one from Netherlands' police called \textit{No More Ransom} available at \url{nomoreransom.org} \cite{martin2017don,paquet2018ransomware}.
Because of this targeting, they had to choose another cryptocurrency to solve this problem, and the solution was Monero \cite{cusack2018points}.
\begin{figure}[H]
\begin{center}
\vspace{-0.8em}
\includegraphics[trim={0 0 0 0},clip,width=0.9\textwidth]{stf-kirk-ransomware-virus-startrek-monero-payment-demands-ransom-instructions.png}
\caption{Kirk ransomware that demands payment in Monero \protect\cite{monerokirk}.}
\vspace{-1.5em}
\label{pic:monerokirk}
\end{center}
\end{figure}
\subsubsection{Scam portals}
\label{cha:scamportals}
As mentioned in the Section Wallets \ref{sec:wallets}, online wallets usage is a risky thing due to entrusting user's private keys to the third party. Users often choose them as they are not required to have any additional software. Due to this fact, there are more than ten domains that copy the design, functionality, and name of \url{mymonero.com} official online wallet with added code that steals the user's wallet data. Detailed list of domains is available at \url{https://www.reddit.com/r/Monero/wiki/avoid}.
@ -900,8 +913,18 @@ Aside from direct scams, there are also services offering wallet services which
\subsubsection{Crypto-jacking attack}
\label{cha:cryptojacking}
Crypto-jacking a type of attack where the attacker delivers a malicious payload to the user's computer. Rather than rendering the device unusable either by blocking like ransomware, part of system resources is used for mining.
\begin{figure}[H]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[trim={0 0 0 0},clip,width=0.95\textwidth]{cryptojacking.png}
\caption{Some websites openly state that they mine Monero.}
\label{pic:monerokirk}
\end{center}
\end{figure}
Crypto-jacking is becoming more frequent than ransomware as it has proven that steady but low income is more profitable than one-time payment in the form of ransomware \cite{higbee2018role}.
\vspace{-1em}
\subsubsection{Black Ruby}
Interesting intersection of ransomware and crypto-jacking category is Black Ruby malware that combines features of both. First, it encrypts files on the target computer and then proceeds to mine Monero using XMRig at full CPU load \cite{blackruby2018}.
@ -972,7 +995,7 @@ Before entering the survey, each participant had to pass the bot test by enterin
\item In total 7 responses were sent from duplicate IP addresses. The highest number of responses from a single IP was 3, which belonged to MIT University.
\end{enumerate}
\item Responses containing invalid answers, e.g., not using Monero or repeating the same answer pattern in multiple submissions (1 out of 179).
\end{enumerate}\vspace{-3em}
\end{enumerate}\vspace{-2.3em}
%\end{itemize}
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}[H]
@ -993,7 +1016,7 @@ Before entering the survey, each participant had to pass the bot test by enterin
legend style={font=\footnotesize},
label style={font=\footnotesize},
xtick={0,100},
width=.86\textwidth,
width=.84\textwidth,
bar width=6mm,
xlabel={Time in ms},
yticklabels={Filtered responses},
@ -1107,7 +1130,7 @@ At first, users were asked about their operating system preferences when accessi
legend style={font=\footnotesize},
label style={font=\footnotesize},
xtick={0,100},
width=.86\textwidth,
width=.95\textwidth,
bar width=6mm,
xlabel={Time in ms},
yticklabels={Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android,
@ -1149,7 +1172,7 @@ At first, users were asked about their operating system preferences when accessi
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Monero OS usage preferences.}
\label{chart:price}\end{figure}\end{center}
\vspace{-2em}
\subsubsection{Monero desktop app usage}
Desktop applications are used by 104 out of 113 users, making it the most frequent means of accessing the wallet. As Monero Official application has no other direct competitors aside from web-based wallets, the majority of users 81\% (84 out of 104) use the official app with GUI, but there is also a notable part of the users in the dataset that use CLI as well 53\% (55 out of 104). Alternative desktop clients, that were sometimes misinterpreted as web apps, are used by only a few users cca 4\% (5 out of 104).
@ -1228,7 +1251,7 @@ From 113 people that filled out the survey, 53 of them stated that they use eith
legend style={font=\footnotesize},
label style={font=\footnotesize},
xtick={0,100},
width=.86\textwidth,
width=.90\textwidth,
bar width=6mm,
xlabel={Time in ms},
yticklabels={Monerujo, Freewallet, Other wallet},
@ -1285,7 +1308,7 @@ iOS is used by 7 out of 113 users (please note that users could check usage of b
legend style={font=\footnotesize},
label style={font=\footnotesize},
xtick={0,100},
width=.86\textwidth,
width=.90\textwidth,
bar width=6mm,
xlabel={Time in ms},
yticklabels={CakeWallet,Freewallet, Other wallet, MyMonero Online wallet, XMRwallet Online, Other online wallet},
@ -1340,7 +1363,7 @@ When asked about online wallet usage, only 24 people (out of 113) said that they
legend style={font=\footnotesize},
label style={font=\footnotesize},
xtick={0,100},
width=.86\textwidth,
width=.90\textwidth,
bar width=6mm,
xlabel={Time in ms},
yticklabels={MyMonero, XMRwallet, Other },
@ -1396,7 +1419,7 @@ First part of the survey shows that userbase present in the dataset is more orie
legend style={font=\footnotesize},
label style={font=\footnotesize},
xtick={0,100},
width=.86\textwidth,
width=.84\textwidth,
bar width=6mm,
xlabel={Time in ms},
yticklabels={Opensource usage, OS usage },
@ -1438,11 +1461,30 @@ When asked \enquote{\textit{What are your reasons to use Monero?}}, the majority
A significant portion of respondents also see Monero as a way of secret storage of value 74\% (84 out of 113) but not as much in the way of sending money 53\% (60 out of 113).
\begin{figure}[H]
\center
\begin{tabular}{>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{0.4\linewidth}%
>{\centering\arraybackslash}p{0.25\linewidth}%
>{\centering\arraybackslash}p{0.25\linewidth}%
}
\textbf{Reason} & \textbf{\% usage} & \textbf{Number of users} \\
Investment & 73 \% & 83 \\
Technology & 88 \% & 99 \\
Fungibility & 63 \% & 71 \\
Hidden balance & 74 \% & 84 \\
Support Monero & 65 \% & 73 \\
Recommended by friend & 04 \% & 04 \\
Secure storage of money & 44 \% & 50 \\
Secure transfer of funds & 53 \% & 60 \\
To be paid in Monero & 44 \% & 50 \\
Other & 00 \% & 00
\end{tabular}
\caption{Reasons to use Monero, total N=113.}
\label{table:monerousageresearch}
\end{figure}
This result is strongly affected by the way how participants were selected (self-selection) and from what sites they were informed about the survey (mainly Reddit Monero subreddits and Facebook Monero groups). The short overview of the preferences is shown in the Figure \ref{table:monerousageresearch} with the full text of the questions asked available in the Appendix Figure \ref{monero-user-study-pdf}.
Transactions in the Monero network performed by respondents can be divided into two user groups, where the first group that can be described as active, those who make at least one transaction per month, 50\% (53 out of 107) and passive who are much less frequent 51\% (54 out of 107).
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}[H]
\begin{tikzpicture}
@ -1499,33 +1541,13 @@ Transactions in the Monero network performed by respondents can be divided into
\node at (F) {8};% ********* end of changes **********
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Transaction frequency by Monero users.}
\label{chart:price}\end{figure}\end{center}
\label{chart:transactions}\end{figure}\end{center}
Transactions in the Monero network performed by respondents can be divided into two user groups, where the first group that can be described as active, those who make at least one transaction per month, 50\% (53 out of 107) and passive who are much less frequent 51\% (54 out of 107). Detailed overview of transactions frequency in the dataset is in the Figure \ref{chart:transactions}.
Following this question, respondents were asked if they hold onto their coins for a long time (often referred to as one being a HODLer). Majority of respondents 79\% (84 out of 106) said that they are, but this statement conflicts with transaction frequency. When comparing data of respondents that make a transaction at least every month, about 60\% (34 out of 57) think that they are HODLers, this contradicts the previously mentioned statement.
Important usage factor of a currency is where its users can pay with it. Monero has already a known reputation between darknet markets, but its mainstream usage isn't something that is advertised as its feature.
\begin{figure}[H]
\center
\begin{tabular}{>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{0.4\linewidth}%
>{\centering\arraybackslash}p{0.25\linewidth}%
>{\centering\arraybackslash}p{0.25\linewidth}%
}
\textbf{Reason} & \textbf{\% usage} & \textbf{Number of users} \\
Investment & 73 \% & 83 \\
Technology & 88 \% & 99 \\
Fungibility & 63 \% & 71 \\
Hidden balance & 74 \% & 84 \\
Support Monero & 65 \% & 73 \\
Recommended by friend & 04 \% & 04 \\
Secure storage of money & 44 \% & 50 \\
Secure transfer of funds & 53 \% & 60 \\
To be paid in Monero & 44 \% & 50 \\
Other & 00 \% & 00
\end{tabular}
\caption{Reasons to use Monero, total N=113.}
\label{table:monerousageresearch}
\end{figure}
When asked about the payment options, many of the respondents 45\% (51 out of 113) selected that they use Monero as a way for donating other people, followed by paying for VPN services 35\% (31 out of 113). Although Monero features are considered ideal for black market use, only 5\% (6 out of 113) respondents revealed that they use Monero cryptocurrency in this way.%A detailed overview of payment types is available in the Appendix Figure \ref{table:moneropayusageresearch}.
\begin{figure}[H]
\center
%\begin{tabular}{cp{0.35\linewidth}rp{0.2\linewidth}r p{0.35\linewidth} }
@ -1554,6 +1576,21 @@ Other & 00\% & 00
\label{table:moneropayusageresearch}
\end{figure}
Important usage factor of a currency is where its users can pay with it. Monero has already a known reputation between darknet markets, but its mainstream usage isn't something that is advertised as its feature.
When asked about the payment options, many of the respondents 45\% (51 out of 113) selected that they use Monero as a way for donating other people, followed by paying for VPN services 35\% (31 out of 113). Although Monero features are considered ideal for black market use, only 5\% (6 out of 113) respondents revealed that they use Monero cryptocurrency in this way.%A detailed overview of payment types is available in the Appendix Figure \ref{table:moneropayusageresearch}.
Perception and the reality of anonymity in cryptocurrency is an important topic in the cryptocurrency environment \cite{amarasinghe2019survey}. Although Monero is private by default, additional precautions can be made to hide users activity from the third party like using Kovri or Tor.
Among users in the dataset, Kovri 7\% (8 out of 113) or Tor 20\% (23 out of 113) is used by less than one third of the respondents in total as can be seen in the Figure \ref{table:moneropayusageresearch} .
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}[H]
@ -1617,10 +1654,7 @@ Other & 00\% & 00
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Perception of the Monero features.}
\label{chart:price}\end{figure}\end{center}
Perception and the reality of anonymity in cryptocurrency is an important topic in the cryptocurrency environment \cite{amarasinghe2019survey}. Although Monero is private by default, additional precautions can be made to hide users activity from the third party like using Kovri or Tor.
Among users in the dataset, Kovri 7\% (8 out of 113) or Tor 20\% (23 out of 113) is used by less than one third of the respondents in total as can be seen in the Figure \ref{table:moneropayusageresearch} .
\pagebreak
\subsection{Monero key and coin management}
Apart from client software that is used for accessing and making transactions in Monero, wallet management should be taken with at least the same importance as the users choice has a direct influence on who has access to the funds as explained along with the wallet types in the Chapter \ref{sec:wallets}.
@ -1752,7 +1786,7 @@ For visualization of wallet recovery reasons and restore methods see the Figures
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Reason for wallet recovery.}
\label{chart:recoveryreason}\end{figure}\end{center}
\vspace{-4em}
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}[H]
\begin{tikzpicture}
@ -1806,7 +1840,7 @@ For visualization of wallet recovery reasons and restore methods see the Figures
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Method used for wallet recovery.}
\label{chart:recoverymethod}\end{figure}\end{center}
\vspace{-2em}
\vspace{-4em}
\subsection{Monero and malicious software}
\label{cha:maliciousminingresearch}
This part was answered only by those respondents that selected Yes (15 out of 113) when asked whether they have ever been affected by malicious software that used Monero in some way.
@ -1890,7 +1924,7 @@ Survey participants were mainly males 44\% (50 out of 113), females 2\% (2 out o
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Age groups in the dataset.}
\label{chart:agegroupsuserresearch}\end{figure}\end{center}
\vspace{-5em}
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}[H]
\begin{tikzpicture}
@ -1941,6 +1975,7 @@ Survey participants were mainly males 44\% (50 out of 113), females 2\% (2 out o
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Highest achieved level of education.}
\label{chart:educationleveluserresearch}\end{figure}\end{center}
\vspace{-3em}
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}[H]
\begin{tikzpicture}
@ -2571,15 +2606,17 @@ Using \texttt{geoiplookup} package in Ubuntu on the filtered dataset, most of th
\section{Results}
Upcoming pages are based on the final filtered dataset with 60 responses of people who voluntarily entered the research based on opportunity sampling.
\vspace{-0.5em}
\subsubsection{General information}
When asked about the motivation for mining Monero, two-thirds of the respondents 67\% (40 out of 60) think about Monero as an investment, but also as a way to gain some profit from mining cryptocurrencies 62\% (37 out of 60).
Although Monero is not considered to be more profitable to mine by the majority in the dataset 77\% (46 out of 60), almost half of the miners 47\% (28 out of 60) favor this cryptocurrency due to its mining characteristics CPU minable and the fact that they directly help to secure the network by mining 60\% (36 out of 60).
Note that the reasons for mining Monero are biased by the way the respondents in the dataset were selected. In general, there would be a higher percentage of the cryptocurrency miners that care only for the profitability rather than cryptocurrency features \cite{al2014investigating}.
\vspace{-2em}
\vspace{-1em}
\subsubsection{Mining setup}
Gathering information about mining setups was designed as a multiple-choice question where every choice was described in detail as illustrated in the Figure \ref{pic:miningquestion}. Even through dataset cleansing, from the final 60 respondents, 15 of them chose both \textit{Regular PC only} and \textit{Mining rig} option. Therefore, only 45 respondents are taken into account in this part.
Gathering information about mining setups was designed as a multiple-choice question where every choice was described in detail as illustrated in the Figure \ref{pic:miningquestion}.
\begin{figure}[H]
\begin{center}
@ -2588,8 +2625,10 @@ Gathering information about mining setups was designed as a multiple-choice ques
\label{pic:miningquestion}
\end{center}
\end{figure}
Even through dataset cleansing, from the final 60 respondents, 15 of them chose both \textit{Regular PC only} and \textit{Mining rig} option. Therefore, only 45 respondents are taken into account in this part.
When asked about mining setup, the majority of the miners mine on their PC 33\% (15 out of 45) or also on mining rig 69\% (31 out of 45), but there is also a small portion of miners 18\% (8 out of 45) that use their employer's hardware and electricity to run their mining operation. On the other side, only two of the respondents mentioned mining on a VPS instance and no one selected cloud mining or botnet mining as their way to mine Monero.
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}[H]
\begin{tikzpicture}
@ -2632,8 +2671,9 @@ When asked about mining setup, the majority of the miners mine on their PC 33\%
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Mining types comparison.}
\label{chart:miningtype}\end{figure}\end{center}
97\% (58 out of 60) of respondents shared their current hashrate with median hashrate value being 4.4Kh/s. This hashrate represents a typical setup with 5 high-performance GPUs (AMD RX 480 8GB with 800-850h/s) or 7 high-performance CPUs (AMD Ryzen 7 1700 with 600-650h/s).
\label{chart:miningtype}\end{figure}\end{center}
When asked about mining setup, the majority of the miners mine on their PC 33\% (15 out of 45) or also on mining rig 69\% (31 out of 45), but there is also a small portion of miners 18\% (8 out of 45) that use their employer's hardware and electricity to run their mining operation. On the other side, only two of the respondents mentioned mining on a VPS instance and no one selected cloud mining or botnet mining as their way to mine Monero.
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}[H]
@ -2692,6 +2732,8 @@ When asked about mining setup, the majority of the miners mine on their PC 33\%
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Mining setup properties.}
\label{chart:miningproperties}\end{figure}\end{center}
97\% (58 out of 60) of respondents shared their current hashrate with median hashrate value being 4.4Kh/s. This hashrate represents a typical setup with 5 high-performance GPUs (AMD RX 480 8GB with 800-850h/s) or 7 high-performance CPUs (AMD Ryzen 7 1700 with 600-650h/s).
Majority of miners mine in their property 87\% (52 out of 60) and set up their mining rigs 93\% (56 out of 60). The operating system is not dominant nor on the Windows side 65\% (39 out of 60) nor the Linux part 55\% (33 out of 60) described in the Figure \ref{chart:miningproperties}. This is mainly because of multiplatformity of mining software and availability of guides for mining setups.
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}[H]
@ -2745,7 +2787,7 @@ Majority of miners mine in their property 87\% (52 out of 60) and set up their m
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Mining setup preferences.}
\label{chart:mininghabbits}\end{figure}\end{center}
\vspace{-2em}
Miners generally tend to update their rigs 70\% (42 out of 60) as well as clean them 52\% (31 out of 60) but refrain from additional infrastructure costs like buying a UPS 23\% (14 out of 60) as shown in the Figure \ref{chart:mininghabbits}.
\subsubsection{Mining software}
@ -2808,6 +2850,7 @@ As described in the Chapter \ref{cha:miningsoftware}, most popular mining softwa
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Mining software preference.}
\label{chart:mininghabbits}\end{figure}\end{center}
\vspace{-2em}
XMRig is used less 30\% (18 out of 60), but more often in combination with other mining software like previously mentioned XMR Stak. From closed source miners, only MinerGate was mentioned 3\% (2 out of 60). A small portion of miners also solo mine 12\% (7 out of 60) using the official wallet software.
In general, miners in the dataset tend to mine in pools 83\% (50 out of 60), some of them try to combine mining approaches where the primary way of obtaining the coins is by pool mining, but they also try their luck with solo mining 13\% (8 out of 60). True solo miner was represented by only one specimen.
@ -2891,8 +2934,13 @@ Majority of Windows miners 59\% (23 out of 39) tend to apply updates after some
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Windows mining setup preferences.}
\label{chart:windowshabbits}\end{figure}\end{center}
\pagebreak
\subsubsection{Linux platform}
While Linux is used by 33 out of 60 miners, the majority of them tend to use Ubuntu 52\% (17 out of 33) or Debian 33\% (11 out of 33). The specialized OS for mining - MineOS is used by six users, least use has community derivate from RHEL, CentOS.
Although information about update frequency was not submitted by all miners, many of them 42\% (14 out of 33) manage updates manually, with only a small portion of other miners 18\% (6 out of 33) having the process automated.
Remote management is represented mainly by SSH 67\% (22 out of 33) followed by VNC 9\% (3 out of 33) and TeamViewer 9\% (3 out of 33). Automation tools are used only by 13 miners from the dataset.
\begin{center}
\begin{figure}[H]
\begin{tikzpicture}
@ -2953,7 +3001,7 @@ While Linux is used by 33 out of 60 miners, the majority of them tend to use Ubu
\end{tikzpicture}
\caption{Linux mining setup preferences.}
\label{chart:linuxhabbits}\end{figure}\end{center}
Although information about update frequency was not submitted by all miners, many of them 42\% (14 out of 33) manage updates manually, with only a small portion of other miners 18\% (6 out of 33) having the process automated. Remote management is represented mainly by SSH 67\% (22 out of 33) followed by VNC 9\% (3 out of 33) and TeamViewer 9\% (3 out of 33). Automation tools are used only by 13 miners from the dataset.
\pagebreak
\subsubsection{Demographics}
Survey participants were mainly males 83\% (50 out of 60), females 3\% (2 out of 60) represented only a small portion of the dataset and some of the participants did not disclose their gender 13\% (8 out of 60). Most respondents in the dataset were from the age groups 25-34 55\% (33 out of 60) followed by 35-44 age group 20\% (12 out of 60) as well as 18-24 18\% (11 out of 60).

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