Cryptojacking: a Japanese man sentenced to imprisonment
A Japanese citizen accused of " cryptojacking " was sentenced to one year's imprisonment. He was also suspended from any online activity for a period of three years, in addition to this unusual conviction.
One year in prison for cryptojacking
Cryptojacking refers to the use of malware that infects web users' computers. Mining crypto-currencies is made without the knowledge of the owner of the electronic device.
The sentence of the 24-year-old man was pronounced on Monday, July 2 by the Sendai District Court.Although his identity remained anonymous, he was described as an unemployed resident of the city of Amagasaki.
The crime allegedly involved a cryptojacking malware known as CoinHive pre-installed on an online game cheat software. According to Kahoku's report :
"According to the verdict, he integrated a mining program into an online gambling cheat software, in January and February, without justifiable reasons. He posted it on his blog, downloaded it to another person's computer, and started mining. "
A criminal trend is emerging
This case could be the first in a long series of convictions. 16 other potential cryptojacking suspects have been identified by the Japanese authorities. Bitcoin.com has announced the arrest of 3 individuals suspected of exploiting malware. CoinHive has become popular with users of mining software. It is a way to generate revenue, without ads, that has often been used for the extraction of Monero, without the consent of the owners of electronic device.Lawyer Takashi Hirano highlighted the use of CoinHive without using online cheat software. This is probably the system used by the 24 year old citizen, he said:
"I think there are major differences in the legal configuration between using Coinhive on its website and integrating Coinhive into its cheat tool. "This practice is a growing problem in the cryptocurrency industry. McAfee, a security consulting firm, recently found that incidents like this increased by 629 percent in the first quarter of 2018.
What do you think about crimes such as crytpojacking in the virtual currency industry? Tell us in the comments section below.
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Technology is like any tool that can be used for both good and evil.
I see a really good use case for using technologies like Coinhive to monetize crowd funding campaigns and artists selling digital items.
Sadly, the first news headlines were people using the technology for evil purposes.
Remember, back in 2008 malware would install pop ups ads that you could never close all the windows. Now they just install crypto jacking.
We should make our software more secure but we shouldn't throw out the baby with the bath water.
If Coinhive is used ethically by control and consent, then it's like lending someone your car so they can deliver goods to the needy.
As long as you know they are going to drive it and use some of your gas and put some wear on your computer (look... Star Citizen and other games will use way more CPU power than 10% of a simple miner and people do that for fun and pay Chris Roberts for the privilege of making their gaming rigs sound like B52 bombers) then you can't say that is crypto jacking.
So anyone reading this... Please. Just using adblockers or Brave Browswer to keep crypto jacking from happening but if you run into someone asking for your permission don't call them a criminal because they asked. You don't have to after all and can just send some crypto directly to support them.
And if you are a content creator thinking about using Coinhive.... Always use consent and explain what it is and does. No exceptions.