Crypto mining malware found on Amazon Fire TVs

The cryptocurrency craze died down a little as prices tanked hard over the last couple of months, but that doesn't mean cryptojacking and cryptocurrency malware is no longer a thing. ExtremeTech writes today that there's a new worm in the wild that targets Amazon Fire TV boxes and sticks.

These products run an Android-based operating system and are vulnerable to ADB.Miner, a worm that can spread to multiple devices across a network. The worm is found in a number of apps that are downloaded outside of Amazon's Appstore. Once infected, the Amazon Fire TV device starts mining cryptocurrency:

When this rogue app infects a device, it installs a seemingly innocuous package called “com.google.time.timer.” The malware consumes resources as it mines cryptocurrency for the malware author. This leads to sluggish system performance and laggy video. Playback will even stop on occasion with a notification that says “Test” in the corner. This popup is often the only sign something is wrong with the system. If you aren’t using the device often, the malware could sit quietly next to your TV and gobble up electricity to make money for online criminals.

The easiest way to get rid of this worm is to restore the device to its factory settings.