This primitive Monero-mining virus can burn you phone hardware down

Cybersecurity experts from corresponding technology blogs have found another virus which mines private cryptocurrency Monero by using Android devices.

The virus called HiddenMiner poses as Google Play by using the same icon and names itself com.google.android.provider, but to start mining, it usually has to ask the permission of the user first. This reminds of old legends about vampires who cannot enter homes without permission.

When the virus is launched, the process of mining cannot be stopped by a pre-installed switch in its structure. This means that devices infected with this new virus can overheat and develop a fault. To evade such threats, it’s better not to install applications without prior checks for their trustworthiness online by looking through several independent user reviews. In case of any suspicious messages on the screen one should not give the program permission to “activate device administrator”.

As noted by experts, this cryptocurrency-mining virus was able to lock screen and even change the screen-unlock password until Google decided to disable these rights of device administrators.