How to Tell if You Have a Bitcoin Miner Virus

BitCoinMiner is a generic name for various cryptocurrency-mining viruses. At first glance, the name suggests that these viruses mine only Bitcoin cryptocurrency, however, cybercriminals also attempt to mine other cryptocurrencies, such as Monero, Ethereum, etc.

Bitcoin Miner virus, cryptocurrency mining malware, or cryptojacking. Whatever you call it, it is the same form of cybercrime when fraudsters infect vulnerable computers with malware to steal computer processing power for illegal crypto mining.

Cybercriminals behind crypto mining viruses act with the purpose of profit. Mining lucrative cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin requires powerful and expensive ASIC mining hardware to become profitable. But as long as cryptocurrencies can be mined with processors (CPU) and graphics cards (GPU), the fraudsters utilize them as a cheap alternative. They simply target computing resources and steal power from thousands of unsuspecting users.

The principle here is simple. When a certain device is infected with cryptojacking malware, it gets added to a pool to work on the task. In a meantime, fraudsters earn profit with almost no costs to themselves. And although the name of the Bitcoin Miner virus suggests it mines only Bitcoins, criminals do mine other digital currencies like Ethereum or Monero.