Bitcoin miner bundled with other software

Malwarebytes has reported that in some of the softwares identified as Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUP) they have identified the presence of a Bitcoin miner. The program was identified initially in a process identified as jh1d.exe and a variant jh1c.exe and using nearly 50% of CPU power. The program was identified as “jhProtominer”.

See the article in techienews.co.uk

What is surprising is that it is reported that the EULA of the program downloaded by the client indicates

“WBT Features on the Mutual Public Installer” : “COMPUTER CALCULATIONS, SECURITY: as part of downloading a Mutual Public, your computer may do mathematical calculations for our affiliated networks to confirm transactions and increase security. Any rewards or fees collected by WBT or our affiliates are the sole property of WBT and our affiliates.”

While the ingenuity of the developer may be appreciated, whichever advocate drafted this privacy clause was dishonest to his profession as the contract was illegal per-se and a standard form contract which has no legal validity.

Naavi

Also see

About Vijayashankar Na

Naavi is a veteran Cyber Law specialist in India and is presently working from Bangalore as an Information Assurance Consultant. Pioneered concepts such as ITA 2008 compliance, Naavi is also the founder of Cyber Law College, a virtual Cyber Law Education institution. He now has been focusing on the projects such as Secure Digital India and Cyber Insurance
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