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Hackers are mining for Bitcoin, and they might be using your computer

An image of a silver bitcoin
Zach Copley
/
Flickr - http://bit.ly/1xMszCg
Bajpai said hackers can use your computer's processing power to mine for cryptocurrency while you're on shady sites. He called this hacking one of the biggest threats to online security in 2018.

 

Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin or the more than 1,500 other cryptocurrencies, are making some people rich. 

They're also opening up something new: your computer could be using its processor power, its memory, and your electricity to help make money for someone else. The process is called cryptojacking.

 


Pranshu Bajpai is a security researcher working towards his Ph.D. at Michigan State University. His areas of interest include computer and network security, analyzing, and studying malware and privacy issues. 

 

He recently wrote a piece for The Conversation warning that cryptojacking is spreading across the web, and he joined Stateside to tell us more about the hacking. 

 

Listen above to learn what to look for to tell you're being hacked, how widespread the hacking is, and what kinds of things to avoid to keep hackers out of your computer.

 

This story was originally broacast on May 23, 2018. 

 

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