A computer monitor displays data on the temperature, fan speed and hash rate of graphics processing units as they mine cryptocurrency pools for Electroneum in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday, January 31, 2018. Cryptocurrencies are not living up to their comparisons with gold as a store of value, tumbling Monday as an equities sell-off in Asia extended the biggest rout in global stocks in two years.  Akos Stiller / Bloomberg
A computer monitor displays data on the temperature, fan speed and hash rate of graphics processing units as they mine cryptocurrency pools for Electroneum in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday, January Show more

How hackers are using your device to aid cryptomining



Back in the "good old days" of computer malware, hackers would try to gain access to our computers with the aim of prising money out of us. Whether they did this by tricking us into clicking a dodgy link or by more nefarious means, it was our hard-earned cash they were after. The last few weeks, however, have seen a marked and unusual shift in the world of online crime.

Crooks are becoming less keen on our money – they're after our computer power instead. As a result, the chips that power our phones, tablets and computers are being quietly hijacked and used to perform intensive number crunching, which slows our devices, drains their batteries and uses up electricity. The reason for all this: the creation (or mining) of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

The infamous Bitcoin, and its cousins such as Ethereum and Ripple, have hit the headlines repeatedly in the past few months as people observe wild fluctuations in their value and ponder the wisdom of buying them. But there is a way of getting hold of these coins that doesn't involve currency exchange: instead, you use computer power to complete the complex mathematical puzzles that validate a "block" of cryptocurrency transactions. If you manage to solve those tricky sums, you get a reward. For example, successfully mining one block of Bitcoin will yield a reward of 12.5 Bitcoins – currently equivalent to about US$100,000 (Dh367,315). Needless to say, this particular task is not an easy one: a high-end PC might take about 150,000 years to do so. Nevertheless, enthusiastic miners have found themselves investing huge sums in computer hardware in the hope of "winning" these rewards, from powerful graphics cards (GPUs) to dedicated mining devices, but as cryptocurrencies gain more value, more power is needed to mine them. In the search for that extra computer power, hackers are now requisitioning it from an unsuspecting and unaware public.

Most of these nasty mining tools end up on our devices in the same way most malware does, such as opening a booby-trapped document or following a questionable web link. New threats are appearing constantly. Last weekend saw thousands of Android phones infected with code that mines a cryptocurrency called Monero. (Another ongoing Monero-mining scheme has, so far, infected more than half a million Windows computers and generated some $3.6m of the currency.)

In recent weeks, malicious mining software has found its way onto devices via text messages, rogue links on Facebook Messenger and even via code embedded in Google ads. Victims of these hacks wouldn't immediately be aware what was going on, but their infected devices would be pushed to their limits – indeed, in December, computer-security firm Kaspersky released photos of an infected phone with a battery that had literally buckled, bulged and deformed after two days of intensive cryptomining.

Whether one believes in the long-term validity of cryptocurrencies, the feverish rush to mine them is having real-world effects. The GPUs that facilitate the mining of certain currencies (Ethereum among them) are now subject to a global shortage, with empty shelves and high second-hand prices. GPU manufacturer Nvidia recently confirmed that it has asked retailers to prioritise gaming customers over mining customers, but its main competitor, AMD, is less shy – the company's technical marketing manager, Damien Triolet, gave an interview to
the TechRadar website this week extolling the benefits of certain AMD products and the benefits they could bring to rookie miners.

Beyond the world of graphics cards, demand has soared for dedicated mining "rigs" (such as the AntMiner S9), which sell for thousands of dollars apiece, and established brands have also been muscling in on the action. Kodak recently unveiled a scheme whereby you could lease a mining rig from them (a "KashMiner") for $3,400 if you split your profits with the company, while Samsung announced last week that it is manufacturing chips specifically dedicated to cryptomining. You would be forgiven for thinking that this whole business appears to be motivated by greed, but last week, there was an attempt to harness the system for a charitable cause, when Unicef appealed to gamers with powerful graphics cards to mine Ethereum to help raise money for children in Syria.

All this mining requires enormous amounts of electricity. The main expense for miners isn't the rig, it is the power, and this helps to explain why hackers are now trying to get that power for free – by stealing it. Estimates of the amount of power used by the global cryptomining effort have been criticised for their inaccuracy, but economics website Digiconomist currently pegs the power used to mine Bitcoin (never mind any other cryptocurrencies) as equivalent to about 4.4 million American households. The dream of cryptocurrency inventors, to create a newer, fairer financial system, probably never factored in the extraordinary consumption of resources that would be needed to bring them into being, and some of those inventors are now wrestling with their consciences; Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum, was recently quoted as saying: "I would personally feel very unhappy if my main contribution to the world was adding Cyprus's worth of electricity consumption to global warming." In China, where electricity is cheap and where a substantial proportion of the world's mining rigs are located, officials recently announced that local government would be "discouraging" miners from continuing their activities.

Those of us who are keen not to have a grindingly slow computer or an enormous electricity bill should follow the usual rules regarding malware: be suspicious of unusual files and wary of unexpected correspondence. The web browser extension No Coin has been independently developed to block mining code, and since last month, it has been built into the Opera web browser by default. Meanwhile, anyone who might be thinking "if you can't beat them, join them" should probably think again; the highly impractical nature of cryptomining and the sheer volatility of the markets means that the amount one would spend on mining coins might be better spent on simply buying the coins themselves. Or, controversially, perhaps invested in something a little more stable.

________________

Read more:

Why can't we fix our own gadgets or get them repaired where we want?​​​​​​

Are you part of the repair revolution?

US authorities said to launch Apple battery inquiry

________________

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha

Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar

Director: Neeraj Pandey

Rating: 2.5/5

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hoopla%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jacqueline%20Perrottet%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2010%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20required%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20HyveGeo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abdulaziz%20bin%20Redha%2C%20Dr%20Samsurin%20Welch%2C%20Eva%20Morales%20and%20Dr%20Harjit%20Singh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECambridge%20and%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESustainability%20%26amp%3B%20Environment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24200%2C000%20plus%20undisclosed%20grant%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVenture%20capital%20and%20government%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Correspondents

By Tim Murphy

(Grove Press)

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed 

TRAP

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue

Director: M Night Shyamalan

Rating: 3/5

Tips to avoid getting scammed

1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday

2) Visit an RTA centre to change registration only after receiving payment

3) Be aware of people asking to test drive the car alone

4) Try not to close the sale at night

5) Don't be rushed into a sale 

6) Call 901 if you see any suspicious behaviour

BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES

(All games 4-3pm kick UAE time) Bayern Munich v Augsburg, Borussia Dortmund v Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin, Wolfsburg v Mainz , Eintracht Frankfurt v Freiburg, Union Berlin v RB Leipzig, Cologne v Schalke , Werder Bremen v Borussia Monchengladbach, Stuttgart v Arminia Bielefeld

The specs: 2019 BMW X4

Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800

Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km

The low down

Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films

Director: Namrata Singh Gujral

Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark

Rating: 2/5

A%20QUIET%20PLACE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Lupita%20Nyong'o%2C%20Joseph%20Quinn%2C%20Djimon%20Hounsou%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMichael%20Sarnoski%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
 

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies direct from Dubai to Rio de Janeiro from Dh7,000 return including taxes. Avianca fliles from Rio to Cusco via Lima from $399 (Dhxx) return including taxes. 

The trip

From US$1,830 per deluxe cabin, twin share, for the one-night Spirit of the Water itinerary and US$4,630 per deluxe cabin for the Peruvian Highlands itinerary, inclusive of meals, and beverages. Surcharges apply for some excursions.

Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
Afcon 2019

SEMI-FINALS

Senegal v Tunisia, 8pm

Algeria v Nigeria, 11pm

Matches are live on BeIN Sports

List of alleged parties
  • May 15 2020: Boris Johnson is said to have attended a Downing Street pizza party
  • 27 Nov 2020: PM gives speech at leaving do for his staff
  • Dec 10 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson 
  • Dec 13 2020: Mr Johnson and his then-fiancee Carrie Symonds throw a flat party
  • Dec 14 2020: Shaun Bailey holds staff party at Conservative Party headquarters 
  • Dec 15 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
  • Dec 18 2020: Downing Street Christmas party