In recent months, undercover mining has proliferated throughout the Internet, generating a whole new wave of operations that seeks to use third-party computers to multiply personal profits. In this way, CoinHive's JavaScript miner, dedicated exclusively to the mining of Monero from web pages, has had a resounding success in cyberspace, even being used by several Venezuelan web pages.

According to the NotMining network - a search engine for websites that mine cryptocurrencies - the portals of Ultimas Noticias newspaper and the Android Venezuela service platform have installed in their source code the javascript of CoinHive, a tool that uses the computers of all visitors to the website to mine Monero.

By accessing in detail the source code information of these two Venezuelan web pages, you can certify that the script is anchored to the system and is operating every time a new visitor enters the network, an activity that harms the users of these portals -as it slows down their computers- and that is being done without any notification.

This tool allows mining without a noticeable alteration in the visitor's computer beyond the slowdown, so CoinHive has emphasized that it is the duty of the web owner to notify its users about mining activities that are performed every time they enter the page. This in order to respect the privacy of its customers. A recommendation that is clearly not followed by these two portals.

On the other hand, the website Películas Venezolanas has also anchored the script to its source code, but when entering this IP address immediately notifies the visitor that said portal performs mining work with third party computers, leaving it to the discretion of each individual whether or not to collaborate with these activities.

The CriptoNoticias group made repeated contacts with the administrators of these portals in order to know their position. But, for the moment, there has been no statement on this.

It should be noted that this type of mining malware is very difficult to identify, so Internet users should be aware of certain clear signals that a CoinHive miner is using his computer to enrich a third party. For example, when this JavaScript is activated, web pages are loaded with unusual slowness, evidence that shows that software is consuming processing power on the device.

Also, if a computer is affected by this miner, the data from this computer will reveal at the time of loading the page a CPU usage that can reach 100% instantaneously, data that not only confirms the intrusion of an undercover miner, but also the level of affectation generated by these solutions in the processing capacity of the computers.

Due to these features, the CoinHive script has become considerably popular as a mining method. As a result, an estimated 1.5 million computers around the world have been affected by this type of malware, as evidenced by the numerous cases of Chinese porn sites, complaints websites, Telefónica's portal and literature blogs that have begun to use this method to generate additional profits without commitment.