What to Do If Your Computer is Secretly Mining Cryptocurrency

Stealth cryptocurrency mining can significantly deteriorate your computer's performance

There are numerous different cryptocurrencies today like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero, etc. All of them are digital assets which operate as a medium of exchange^[1]. However, obtaining those virtual currencies require excessive amounts of computer resources.

Despite the fact whether your computer is secretly or legally mining cryptocurrency, it uses a lot of CPU power and forces your system to work at high temperatures continuously^[2]. As a result, you might notice a significant decrease in your computer's performance.

After some time, the programs start to crash, or it takes longer for them to load. Likewise, your system's resources are being exploited for mining cryptocurrency, and you do not benefit from it.

If you are not sure whether you have a crypto-mining malware on your system, there are several ways how you can detect it. However, we strongly advise you to employ a professional security software to double-check it for you.

Ways to tell if your computer is stealthily mining digital currency

Start by searching for excessive CPU usage. Windows users should open the Task Manager^[3] while resource manager on Mac is called Activity Monitor.

Even though it is hard to determine what amounts of CPU should typically be used, sudden spikes might indicate the problem. If a specific website requires a lot of your computer power, it is evident that the malicious javascript is running^[4].

You could try to close everything and recheck the resource manager. In case the CPU is still overused, probably the crypto-mining malware is present on your system.

How to stop your computer from mining cryptocurrency without your permission

Since it there is a possibility that your PC resources are being exploited by simply visiting an unreliable website or clicking on infected online ads, you could try using a professional Ad Blocker^[5]. It should help you to stop malicious pages from mining digital currencies permanently.

Also, you could just close the tab, and the CPU usage should decrease. However, this is only a temporary solution, and we advise you to take more effective measures to protect your computer in the future as well.

Besides, in case of crypto-mining malware, you should detect the process which is misusing computer resources on the Task Manager or Activity Monitor and terminate it manually.

If it still reappears and continues to exploit your CPU power, you should either contact your IT specialist or get a powerful antivirus tool to clean your system.