Advertising Screens Hacked To Mine Crypto

Spotted in London. A large, Microsoft Windows-powered advertising hoarding has been hijacked.

An advertising screen takes up the whole wall of a retail store in London

It's not uncommon to see broken-down Windows displays - I run https://windowsisbroken.tumblr.com/ - which is dedicated to pointing and laughing at such mistakes. But this is the first time I've seen a display repurposed for profit!

The display shows a windows desktop with a variety of icons. There is a window open

It appears to be running NiceHash Miner Legacy. A mining program for older computers.

Close up of the window. It is a BitCoin miner

I'm sure someone cleverer than me can figure out which wallet starts with 3Jgi6 and is receiving these coins.

Although, given that the hash-rate is zero, it may not be producing anything.

There's no way to know whether this is an external hack, or if an "enterprising" employee has decided to repurpose these computers on the weekend, or if the advertising industry has decided that mining is more profitable than encouraging people to enjoy a cool refreshing glass of blue milk.

This post originally appeared on my blog

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