A new trend: hackers are cheating pirated games to use other people's computers for crypto-mining

Terrible times to play games on the PC platform, primarily due to the shortage of graphics cards, and then due to their insane prices. Among the culprits for such a situation are certainly cryptocurrencies whose mining is profitable to those who have the conditions to do so.

And while some are quite legally investing in the business of cryptocurrency mining by doing cost-effectiveness calculations and arranging machines for it, others are looking at how they will take advantage of PC gamers and their graphics cards.

According to the BBC, certain forums share "free" versions of games such as GTA 5, NBA 2K19, and PES 2018, but these are not ordinary pirated versions of games but contain malicious software called Crackonosh that uses other people's hardware to mine cryptocurrencies and send profits. at the expense of hackers.

In translation, you download the pirated GTA 5, and you get a hidden cat in a bag - and your computer starts working at a higher intensity, slows down your work, and consumes more power. Also worrying is that Crackonosh also shuts down all the security programs you have, so you’re at risk for other viruses and malware as well.

The security company Avast states that pirated versions of the games are the most common way of spreading Crackonosh and that they record 800 cases of infection per day. Poorer markets suffer the most, where games are more often pirated.

According to Avast statistics, hackers have so far mined cryptocurrencies worth two million US dollars through pirated games and other people's hardware.