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The computers of Internet users visiting the sites Pirate Bay or Showtime were used without their knowledge to undermine cryptomonies.
Well set up in front of their favorite TV series last weekend, the users of "Showtime", a paying American channel, did not realize that they had been transformed into minors.
It is a user who has given the alert on Twitter: a script has been integrated for some time in the source code of the two sites of the chain in order to exploit the power of the computers of the Internet users and to generate the cryptomonte.
As a reminder, with the creation of Bitcoin in 2008 a new practice appeared: "mining". This involves participating in the creation of cryptomonas, Bitcoin or others. Many fans have turned to this activity, which in theory requires only a computer.
The processing power of the processor of the minor's computer is used to process and validate network transactions. These are then recorded in a public register (the blockchain). And in exchange for these services, "miners" are allotted a certain amount of bitcoins.
An army of computers
Problem, as for gold seekers, the resource is gradually becoming rarer, and competition more severe. The difficulty of the calculations is indeed adjusted regularly so that it is not too easy to create money.
To "undermine" the most popular cryptomonas, it is now necessary to invest in very powerful and expensive equipment, and expect to see its electricity bill increase.
It is to overcome these difficulties that a "minor" has probably hacked the site "Showtime" in order to have available the power of an army of computers. The channel has, for now, not commented on the case and the script was removed after the alert was given on Twitter.
A business model?
And if turning Internet users into an army of minors was not the result of a piracy but a well-studied business model? This is what the site "The Pirate Bay" envisaged. Mid-September, file-sharing site visitors were surprised to see the load of their processor increase dramatically. This load slows down the system and can drain the battery in case of laptops.
A little later, as Internet users questioned each other about the forums on this unexplained activity, the administrators of Pirate Bay finally said they were testing a minor Monero currency in Javascript. "It's only a test. We really want to get rid of all those advertisements. But we also need money to run the site, "they write.
$ 12,000 per month
Living from one's advertising revenue, when one is a website, is becoming more and more difficult. In 2016, Google and Facebook captured 92% of mobile digital advertising and 68% of computer advertising in France. Moreover, many Internet users have opted for an "adblock", an extension that prevents the display of advertising, considered too invasive.
"Mining" could therefore be a solution for websites. According to the US specialist site "TorrentFreak", the 315 million annual users of Pirate Bay could allow the site to generate $ 12,000 a month. For their part, users would in some way pay for their access to the site by their electricity bill.
But this could only work on at least two conditions: that "mining" be controlled so that it does not render the computer unusable, and that the prior consent of Internet users is obtained. Otherwise, there is little chance that the system will impose itself: as for advertisements, parades have already been found and Adblock Plus now blocks such attempts.
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