Starbucks Wi-Fi Exploits Coffee Lovers' Devices for Cryptocoin Mining Operations

[Chino]

Nothing in life is free, not even the Wi-Fi at Starbucks cafes. That's something Noah Dinkin would discover eventually. While sipping his coffee at a Starbucks coffeehouse in Buenos Aires, the founder and CEO of stensul decided to log onto the Wi-Fi network to get some work done. To his surprise, there was an unusual delay before he was able to access the internet. Noah later found out that a malicious code was working behind the scenes to hijack customer's devices to mine Monero (XMR). He immediately reported the exploit to Starbucks via Twitter. Starbucks was unaware of the issue, but the company immediately contacted their internet provider to remove the code. To their defense, the Wi-Fi service is outsourced to a third-party provider, therefore, Starbucks doesn't own or control the Wi-Fi network. The company claims that this was an isolated case, and their other stores are safe.


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[R0H1T]

Well at least they aren't stealing your passwords, oh wait that was HP or was it Lenovo

 

[Upgrayedd]

Sounds like an employee got a little savvy. Probably happening more places than you think.

 

[john_]

An isolated case.

So, what are the odds that the founder and CEO of stensul will be drinking his coffee at the ONLY Starbucks that was hijacking customer's devices?

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

Is it the same if you order tea?

 

[john_]

Is it the same if you order tea?

No, the tea malicious code is more transparent than the coffe malicious code, meaning that it doesn't stress too much the main CPU of the device that is hijacked.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

No, the tea malicious code is more transparent than the coffe malicious code, meaning that it doesn't stress too much the main CPU of the device that is hijacked.

phew.

 

[evernessince]

This title is such click bait. Yes, because one instance where the store employees were unaware somehow turns into every Starbucks.