YouTube Ads Allegedly Took Advantage of Users' CPU Power to Mine Cryptocurrency
Recent reports have revealed that users YouTube were recently alerted that a JavaScript code in the platform's advertising line was found to be mining cryptocurrency. Further reports also reveal that YouTube was likely targeted because of the amount of time that users spend on the site.
According to reports, the issue was raised by concerned users who received a notification from their anti-virus that a malicious software may be taking advantage of their time on YouTube to earn cryptocurrency. The service was identified to be Coinhive, which is used by hijacking a user's CPU and using it power cryptocurrency mining. Trend Micro, an international cybersecurity company, has confirmed the issue and revealed that the attackers were using Google's DoubleClick, which is meant to tailor ads and traffic distribution. Furthermore, YouTube is not the first site to take advantage of the users' CPU power. Last year, it was also reported that The Pirate Bay was subjected to the same attack.
"Mining cryptocurrency through ads is a relatively new form of abuse that violates our policies and one that we've been monitoring actively," said Google in a statement, as reported by TechSpot. "We enforce our policies through a multi-layered detection system across our platforms which we update as new threats emerge. In this case, the ads were blocked in less than two hours and the malicious actors were quickly removed from our platforms."
Although the threat has been addressed by the tech giant, users are advised to exercise continued caution in the site they visit. Better yet, they are also advised to install anti-virus software to quickly detect any attacks and report It to whoever can provide some assistance. Regardless, more information is expected to be released in the coming weeks, so fans are advised to stay tuned for more updates on what might be Google's next step in actively combating abusers.
