The Bitcoin value is currently experiencing a high, with 1 Bitcoin worth around $36,000. With this, researchers have recorded an increase in coinminer malware which, according to Alexander Vukcevic “exploits other people’s computer resources for illegal mining activities.” This type of malware runs completely undetected on a victim’s computer. The aim of coinminer malware is not to steal data, but to use resources from the infected computer. These resources include the processor, graphics card, main memory and the network bandwidth.
Bitcoin has become iconic in day to day life, and is one of the most well-known cryptocurrencies around the world. This gives coinminer malware plenty of targets, putting many Bitcoin owners at risk of exploitation.