Cryptocurrency mining is the unauthorized use of a computer’s CPU, GPU, or cloud resources to solve cryptographic work and generate digital currency for an attacker. In security reporting, this is often called cryptomining or cryptojacking. The victim pays the real cost: higher power usage, slower applications, noisy fans, overloaded servers, and increased cloud bills.
Attackers commonly install miners after gaining a foothold through exposed services, weak credentials, or vulnerable web applications. Once running, the miner may be persistent and can hide inside a botnet, container, or scheduled task. Defenders look for sustained CPU spikes, unfamiliar processes, mining-pool connections, and outbound traffic that does not match the service’s normal role. Blocking exposure, patching quickly, limiting privileges, and monitoring resource baselines all help reduce risk.