A new report issued this week by software security firm McAfee shows a stunning surge in malicious attacks on computers to mine cryptocurrency. McAfee Labs reports a 629 percent increase in coin miner malware found during the first quarter of 2018. Malware threats, the report says, were up by more than 1,100 percent. The method, called cryptojacking, takes over a system, allowing hackers to discreetly confiscate computing power and mine cryptocurrency in the background. A system’s user can be unaware this is going on, other than noticing their computer operating slower than normal. “Compared with well-established cybercrime activities such as data theft and ransomware, cryptojacking is simpler, more straightforward, and…