A large number of people who pirated Watch Dogs on Torrent have fallen victim to a malware that mines Bitcoin for the hacker.
Hackers took advantage of Watch Dogs’s much anticipated release and infected files as early as May 23.
Gamers are often targeted for this kind of mining because they use high end graphic processing units that make Bitcoin mining faster. By attaching the malware to thousands of pirated copies, the hackers could mine the virtual currency at an increasingly accelerated rate.
To mine Bitcoin, miners use specific software to solve complex online algorithms. GPUs are the alternative to purpose built Bitcoin mining hardware. However, GPUs often use up more electricity than a single miner will earn from Bitcoin. By infecting the GPUs of others, the hacker reaps the profits without using his or her own electricity. Also, by infecting such a large number of people, the individual infected users are less likely to notice a significant change in energy consumption.
Although the culprits have not been found, the infected files have been removed by most sources. However, it is still recommended that those who did download Watch Dogs via Torrent or any other P2P sharing service check their computers for signs of infection.
The game, released on May 27, became Ubisoft’s best-selling game ever in week one, with more than 4 million copies sold.
“With such strong sales momentum and positive feedback from gamers, Watch Dogs has positioned itself as the must-have game of the moment,” said Tony Key, Ubisoft’s senior vice president of sales and marketing in a press release.
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