China nabs crypto thieves who use social media plug-ins to steal computing power for bitcoin

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China allows the mining of bitcoin, but prohibits domestic cryptocurrency exchanges. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:00pm, 10 Jul 2018Updated: 9:53pm, 10 Jul 2018

Authorities in Shandong province have arrested 20 individuals for hijacking 3.89 million personal computers as part of a rogue cryptocurrency mining operation since 2015 that netted more than 15 million yuan (US$2.26 million).

Computer technicians at Tencent, China’s biggest gaming and social media company, first discovered the malware embedded in software designed to enable online gamers to cheat, alerting authorities in January, according to a report posted on the Shandong government’s media site.

The malicious programme surreptitiously used the host computer to mine virtual currencies such as DigiByte, Decred and Siacoin without the knowledge of the owner.

One of the suspects, surnamed Yang, worked at Dalian Shengping Network Technology. Yan allegedly cloned popular website iqiyi, a Chinese Netflix-style video streaming service controlled by search giant Baidu, and sold the fake subscription at internet cafes, pocketing over 200,000 yuan.

Yang also created free downloadable plug-ins which he distributed through chat groups and public forums to gain control over users’ computers, according to the report.

Since October Yang had accumulated 8,551.9 Hshare, a form of digital currency, which was worth around 42 yuan per coin, according to police.

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