Cryptocurrency miners have been exploiting the CPU power of home computer users for months but the method has been significantly upped.
Cryptocurrency miners use computers
to solve complex math problems for a digital currency, called Bitcoin. With Bitcoin prices fluctuating, the process is constant and requires high-power PCs. Hackers have been using the advantage of turning those systems into cryptocurrency miners to make money fast.
This is the first time this has been used in a malware attack. So if your computer is running Windows 10, 8.1 or 8 then the free antivirus software from Avast will stop the malicious code from being executed.