Japan is a very prominent region when it comes to cryptocurrency. With the government actively monitoring this industry, positive things will happen. That also means there will be a harsh crackdown on any activity which shouldn’t see the light of day. This is especially true where Coinhive scripts are concerned.
Another Cryptocurrency Mining Incident
While Japan has a booming Bitcoin industry, some developments need to be kept in check. The rise of maliciously mining cryptocurrency should not be underestimated. Japanese officials are cracking down on this trend. Sixteen individuals were identified this week for embedding miners into websites.
There has been a sharp increase in cryptocurrency mining malware. It is a powerful trend, albeit one that also raises concerns. Any website seems prone to such attacks these days. In the case of these Japanese individuals, they infected websites that they set up. As such, viewers with personal computers were mining cryptocurrency on behalf of the criminals.
It is a major offense to use computer viruses in Japan. The law clearly states such tools are not to be used. This is also the reason why three of the sixteen individuals were arrested as well. Although this has not occurred before, it is evident this may not be the last incident of this magnitude either.
Coinhive Gets a Worse Reputation
As one would expect from malicious cryptocurrency mining efforts, the individuals used Coinhive. This particular service is mainly used to mine the Monero cryptocurrency. Setting it up takes little effort, and it can generate adequate profits if enough computers are used to mine the cryptocurrency.
Fourteen of the 16 individuals used Coinhive for this specific purpose. It is unclear how the other two handled their illicit mining. Monero was not the only currency to be mined, though. It seems there was also an interest in JSECoin, which is relatively unknown in the Western world.
Protecting websites against the injection of such code is of the utmost importance. So far, it seems criminals are having no real trouble infecting online platforms. This situation needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. With Japan effectively arresting people, the tone is set for prosecutors all over the world.
How do you think illicit cryptocurrency mining should be handled by the authorities? Let us know in the comments below.
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