
Cryptojacking, an internet scam found on thousands of websites in which nefarious actors mine cryptocurrencies on computers without users’ permission, has been on the rise since the prices of bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies began spiking last year. The con involves websites stealing computational power from a visitor’s computer to execute the algorithms that are involved in cryptocurrency mining, which requires significant amounts of energy.
While it’s most common in the sketchier corners of the internet, hackers have also been able to inject the cryptojacking software onto websites for Showtime and PolitiFact and on e-commerce platforms. Patrons of a Buenos Aires, Argentina, Starbucks branch discovered...