Hello CC, Years ago we used to have viruses like Trojans, Worms etc. This viruses were mainly used to "destroy" a pc with It's files. Internet was flooded with this useless viruses. "Why useless?" you may ask.
You see that today, everything is getting more secured than ever. We have new protection in our systems, we have new and enforced encryption in our files and passwords making It almost un-hackable. Of course, everything is not perfect, so new systems may have an exploit or they may be vulnerable by a type of a hacking method. Finding this exploits is a waste of time, (only if they are released for the public) because It will probably get patched with a new update, making your new findings useless. So hackers have moved to a new type of virus called Bitminer, which is more effective and more profitable.
If you know what Bitcoin is, I think you can judge by the name that It is a Bitcoin Miner. If you dont know what Bitcoin is, check the link down below. But this is a different Miner, this a "silent" Miner. The thing that I am trying to say is that this is an unwanted program installed on your PC to "generate" money using your GPU or CPU power for somebody else.
Sometimes this miners are "intelligent". They only work when you aren't using your pc, so you wouldn't understand if there is something wrong with your PC. But miners can also be "dump". They would work 24/7, only when you are connected to internet, and your system is going to be less responsive and more slow, and of course you would understand that there is something wrong with your PC. If you know what Task Manager is, you would open it and see that there is a unknown .exe app using 100% of your GPU or CPU. If you don't know what Task Manager is, then you better learn for the sake of your PC life.
Usually this virus is mainly found on Torrents file. But they are also being integrated in Websites JavaScript or HTML code. ThePirateBay is a good example. Check the link below
I am going to talk about the countermeasures you need to take when you are dealing with this kind of virus in the next topic. Until then, stay safe crunchers.
What is Bitcoin: https://www.coindesk.com/information/what-is-bitcoin/
What about Bitcoin Mining: https://www.weusecoins.com/en/mining-guide/
ThePirateBay miner: https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/16/pirate-bay-hijacks-cpus-for-digital-currency-mining/
Bonus:
Bitcoin Miners used by CBS: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/25/showtime_hit_with_coinmining_script/
Posted by RealCFW.