In exchange for the work, miners (people whose computers were used to process the transaction) are rewarded a small amount of cryptocurrency.
You can learn more about it in our cryptocurrency and blockchain explainer but, in short, when a cryptocurrency transaction is announced to a blockchain network, computers on that network begin solving complex mathematical puzzles to confirm the currency has not already been used. Inherently, mining cryptocurrencies is not a bad thing. All that needs to happen for mining to begin is that a user needs to visit an infected website with JavaScript enabled. Instead of infecting the users' computers, websites are being infected with malicious ads. But a more lightweight and less noticeable (at least from the user's perspective) way of doing it is by running a JavaScript file right from within the browser - no exploits or vulnerabilities needed. Previously, criminals would go about hijacking someone else's computer to mine coins through a malicious program that was installed. If you could somehow spread those computing demands out among hundreds - and sometimes even thousands or millions - of unknowing users, it would greatly reduce the cost and time of mining expensive coins.Īs nefarious as that sounds, it's exactly what several websites were discovered to be doing by IT security company ESET in September last year. But there's a catch: it requires time and a lot of computing power. Mining of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin can be lucrative.
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