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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

On Friday, the fact-checking website PolitiFact was found to hog its visitors' CPU cycles [pcmag.com] by using maliciously added JavaScript to mine the cryptocurrency Monero [wikipedia.org]:

A fact-checking website was hacked to mine cryptocurrency over the internet browsers of its unsuspecting visitors. The Pulitzer Prize-winning [politifact.com] website, PolitiFact, is devoted to sorting out the truth in US politics. But on Friday, it was found secretly hogging the computer resources of those who visited the site.

Independent security researcher Troy Mursch tweeted [twitter.com] about the issue after noticing signs of a cryptocurrency miner in the website's code.

[...] Mursch said the code comes from a company called Coinhive, which developed a controversial cryptocurrency miner to help businesses find a new way to generate online revenue.

However, the Coinhive miner tends to be used in sketchy websites that pirate content or offer porn, according to AdGuard, an ad-blocking service. These sites often struggle to make money from online advertising, so they have to experiment with new ways to make money. AdGuard found 220 websites using a cryptocurrency mining code in a study it released [adguard.com] on Thursday.

Does this count as good or bad press for a small-time cryptocurrency?

Also at TechCrunch [techcrunch.com], The Register [theregister.co.uk], and Cryptovest [cryptovest.com]. Coinhive blog statement [coinhive.com] from September regarding malicious use.

Previously: Showtime Streaming Service Included JavaScript to Mine Cryptocurrency Using Web Browsers [soylentnews.org]

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