Users find Coinhive code on paid streaming site

Users have found Coinhive code on a paid streaming site, which uses a visitor’s processor to generate the cryptocurrency Monero. It is an American site of UFC. The organization has not yet responded.

Several users reported that they found the code on the site in question and that their CPU load went up, according to a Reddit thread. It concerns the UFC service Fight Pass, where people can watch MMA matches for a fee. The user who posted the thread noticed the code because his antivirus program showed warnings. The code is no longer present. UFC has not responded to questions from The Register, leaving it unclear why the code was present on the site.

Coinhive is a service that, for a commission of 30 percent, lets users use the CPU of site visitors via javascript to mine the cryptocurrency Monero. The service emerged in mid-September, after which the code could be found on various sites, for example on a streaming site of CBS and on The Pirate Bay, which was one of the first sites and claimed to test the technique as a replacement for advertisements. Since then, the code has appeared on more sites and different variants have appeared.

Initially, Coinhive ran without user consent, but now the team behind the project has published an opt-in variant called AuthedMine.