Websites hacked to mint crypto-cash

School, charity and file-sharing websites have been caught out by scammers who are using them to generate crypto-cash.

Hackers have managed to install code on the sites that uses visitors' computers to "mine" the cyber-currencies. One scan of the most popular websites found hundreds harbouring the malicious mining code. By getting lots of computers to join the networks, attackers can quickly generate cash.

Surreptitious coin mining is not just a problem for websites that have been hit by hackers. Many others across the tech world are moving to tackle the problem. Last week, two senior officials in the Crimean government were reportedly firedbecause they had started using a lot of official machines to mine bitcoin. The creators of the FiveM add-on or "mod" for video game GTA V released an update which stopped people adding miners to their code.

High-profile websites including the Pirate Bay, Showtime and TuneProtect have all been found to be harbouring the script.

UCJ, UNILORIN.