Hackers Are Probably Mining Bitcoin On Your Computer

Have you experienced any unexpected laggings lately in your web browsing?

If your answer is yes, then it’s because hackers are probably using it for mining bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. Which could possibly be the reason it’s running slower than it used to be, as cryptocurrency mining generally consumes huge amounts of CPU resources.

And you know what’s worse?

They can do this without you ever knowing it’s happening. This hacking procedure is called cryptojacking, and perhaps the only sign that you can know if it’s happening or not is if you feel that your computer is running slower than usual.

One of the most famous incidents of this happening was in a Starbucks shop in Bueno Aires, Argentina about a month ago. Reports said that the coffee brand’s Wi-Fi network was exploited by hackers to mine the cryptocurrency Monero on customers laptops.

Cryptocurrency, a big target for hackers

As the value of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin skyrocket to enormous values, hackers are infecting computers and websites with mining malware. This malicious software generates a zombie mining militia that works in the background mining digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Monero, without users knowing about it.

On the whole, this shouldn’t be surprising considering the fact that the prices of cryptocurrencies have been skyrocketing lately and creating numerous millionaires across the board. This will obviously attract hackers and other cybercriminals like bees to honey in order to exploit the cryptocurrency industry to their advantage.

It should also be noted that many web browser extensions that claim you can mine cryptocurrency passively can also be used to infect your devices and mine cryptocurrency without your consent. Therefore, you should be wary of installing such browser extensions.

Not only that, these cryptocurrency hackers have also been targeting YouTube users by using malicious ads to infect users with malware that uses their computer resources to mine cryptocurrencies without their consent. As users have noticed that their Anti-virus was alerted when they visited the video platform.

Fortunately, a Google spokesperson said that their platform is continually being monitored to avoid malvertising and other malicious software ads.

the ads were blocked in less than two hours and the malicious actors were quickly removed from our platforms.” – Google spokersperson.

Cryptocurrency malware mining on the rise

Numerous cybersecurity experts have noticed an increase in cryptocurrency mining malware in recent times, especially that there has been a new hacking trend known as cryptojacking, where websites get infected with malware that gets users’ computers to mine cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Monero when they browse the site.

Although that these circulating mining malwares don’t necessarily steal any crypto coins that you’re currently holding, they will massively consume your computer resources and slow down your browsing experience.

To recap, here’s what you need to do to protect yourself from these threats:

• – Don’t click on any suspicious ads online.
• – Use a premium Anti-virus to determine the security of websites.
• – Use a VPN service to protect your financial information from hackers.
• – Don’t install any suspicious browser extensions.
• – Don’t connect to public Wi-Fi networks (again, a VPN can also help with that).

Of course, these precautions won’t guarantee that you won’t suffer from any hacking threats online, but if you just did those things shown above, you will greatly enhance your level of security online and keep your cryptocurrencies and computers much safer and secure.