Avast, Me Hearties! Pirate Bay Exploits Users’ CPUs With Stealthy Bitcoin Miner

CC0 / / Bitcoin
Bitcoin - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Popular torrent tracker The Pirate Bay appears to be employing a discreet cryptocurrency-mining JavaScript on some of its pages, which essentially hijacks users’ CPUs to enrich the website.

In an apparent attempt to find a solution to the dwindling ad revenues amid the widespread use of ad-blocking software by users, the popular torrent tracker The Pirate Bay has taken advantage of a devious new method to help swell its coffers.

According to Gizmodo, the torrent site introduced a JavaScript plugin to its homepage which basically forces the users’ computers to ‘mine’ Monero – an open-sourced cryptocurrency that was created in 2014.

Bitcoin keychains on circuit board - Sputnik International
Traditional Banks Oppose Bitcoin as 'They Are Afraid of Losing Their Dominance'
This development came to light after some users noticed that "that their CPU usage increased dramatically when they browsed certain Pirate Bay pages," Gizmodo explains citing TorrentFreak blog.

The torrent tracker users discussing this issue on the Pirate Bay subreddit appeared to be divided on the issue: while some approved of this move, regarding it as a better alternative to ads, others took offense with the website implementing this measure discreetly without asking for the users’ consent.

Gizmodo also pointed out that the program could be disabled by employing a plugin like NoScript or ScriptBlocker, or by simply adding the miner’s provider, Coinhive, to an ad blocker’s blacklist.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала