The price of cryptocurrencies might be surprisingly low these days, but cybercriminals don’t seem to be giving up on the novel technology. In fact, the number of malicious cryptocurrency miners skyrocketed in the third quarter of the year.
This is according to a new report from cybersecurity experts Kaspersky. In its latest report, the company says in Q3 2022, there has been a 230% rise in cryptocurrency miner variants, compared to the same period last year. Compared to Q3 2021, the number is up threefold.
That being said, in Q3 2022 alone, there were more than 150,000 different cryptocurrency miners identified as in use by criminals. Their profits, according to the researchers, can go as high as 2 BTC per month which, at current prices, is around $32,000. Most of the time, cybercrooks are opting for monero, a privacy-oriented cryptocurrency that’s almost impossible to trace.
Distribution via pirates
To distribute the miners, hackers are using platforms for the distribution of pirated content, such as movies, music, computer games, and commercial software. By masquerading the miners as cracks, activators, and even programs themselves, crooks are able to distribute the miners to a wide spectrum of victims.
Mining is a high-maintenance, low-margin operation. To engage in mining, one must have the latest computer hardware, plenty of electrical energy, and some bandwidth. With the cost of electricity going through the roof, and the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in significant decline, many legitimate miners are turning off their rigs and waiting for more profitable days.
However, by hijacking other people’s devices and electricity, criminals avoid the upfront cost of installation and generate pure profit, while the victims are left with underperforming endpoints and high electricity bills. The mining software is generally simple to compile, and can also be acquired on the dark web, relatively cheaply.
The Pakistan vs England T20 World Cup Finals will be played at the. It will be live-streamed on Disney+ Hotstar, alongside a TV broadcast on Star Sports Network.
- The best Black Friday deals today are on TVs
- Lowest-ever prices on huge TVs and OLEDs
- No good Apple deals - except Airpods Pro 2
- Great discounts on appliances at Walmart
- Samsung has superb handset trade-in deals
You'd be forgiven for thinking it's Black Friday today. It isn't - Black Friday 2022 officially falls on November 25 - but given the sheer amount of Black Friday deals that have already launched, it certainly feels like it could be.
Most big-name retailers in both the US and UK are running Black Friday sales as we head into the weekend. And although we've seen the volume of discounts slow down slightly since the start of the week, there are some exceptionally good-value offers that are worth grabbing now - we've got all the latest news here.
There are also plenty we'd leave until closer to the day, when prices are highly likely to drop further. We'll steer you away from those, too. Join us as we cover the Black Friday sales live today and through the weekend. Happy browsing...
Nope. Black Friday is on November 25 this year - that's two weeks away. BUT there are hundreds of early Black Friday deals already available, some of which are worth buying now. We're curtaing the best ones here as soon as they drop, so stay tuned for our live coverage of the early Black Friday sales today and throughout the weekend...
(Image credit: Future)
Get a 48-inch LG OLED TV for just $569
We've been extremely impressed with this year's Black Friday TV deals so far. Leading the pack is Best Buy, with some of the lowest prices ever on a whole range of 4K, QLED, and OLED displays from all the top brands.
Case in point: the LG A2 48-inch OLED TV - which has a massive $730 discount, taking it down to just $569.99
LG A2 48-inch OLED 4K TV:$1,299.99$569.99 at Best Buy Save $730 - Today's best Black Friday TV deal is LG's A2 OLED display on sale for $569.99 - the cheapest price we've ever seen. The LG Alpha α7 Gen5 processor delivers sharp images and great upscaling from HDR, and Dolby Vision HDR support makes the most of movies and TV. LG's smart TV software is also excellent, and there's a great range of streaming services included.View Deal
6 more of the best Black Friday TV deals at Best Buy
We said Best Buy has a huge range of TV deals today, and we meant it. Here are six more cracking offers.
1. TCL 50-inch 4 Series LED 4K UHD Smart TV:$339.99$249.99 at Best Buy
Save $90 – One of our favorite budget 50-inch Black Friday TV deals is this TCL 4-Series 4K display on sale for just $249.99. An incredible price for a mid-size display, you're getting 4K UHD resolution, the Google Assistant and Chromecast built-in for seamless streaming, and a handy voice remote.View Deal
2. Insignia 65-inch F30 Series 4K UHD Smart Fire TV:$549.99$379.99 at Best Buy
Save $250 - Our favorite budget big-screen Black Friday TV deal is this 65-inch 4K display from Insignia on sale for a stunningly low price of just $379.99. You're getting the Fire TV operating system, 4K Ultra HD resolution, DTS Studio Sound, and a handy Alexa voice remote - all for under $400.View Deal
3. Samsung 75-inch 4K Smart Tizen TV (2022):$849.99$579.99 at Best Buy
Save $270 – Best Buy's early Black Friday TV deals has this stunning 75-inch 4K TV on sale for $579.99 - the lowest price we've seen for it. This 4K UHD TV from Samsung is one of the company's entry-level displays and packs a solid 'Crystal' UHD 4K processor, an easy-to-use Tizen operating system, and full HDR support.View Deal
4. Amazon Fire TV 75-inch Omni Series 4K UHD Smart TV:$1,099.99$599.99 at Best Buy
Save $500 - This is an incredible price for a big-screen 4K TV and one of the best budget Black Friday TV deals we've spotted so far. The 4K Omni Series set includes the Fire OS for easy streaming, plus Dolby Vision, HDR 10, and Amazon Alexa built-in for hands-free control - all for a record-low price of $599.99.View Deal
5. Hisense 65-inch U8H Series Quantum ULED 4K UHD Smart Google TV:$1,399.99$899.99 at Best Buy
Save $500 - If you're looking for a budget big-screen display in today's Black Friday TV deals, Best Buy has this 65-inch QLED display from Hisense for $899.99. You're getting 4K ULED and Quantum Dot technology with Mini-LED backlight panels for bright, bold colors that come to life, plus smart capabilities, a voice remote, and compatibility with the Google Assistant.View Deal
6. LG C2 65-Inch 4K Smart TV (2022):$2,099.99$1,699.99 at Best Buy
Save $400 - Best Buy's Black Friday TV deals also include LG's brilliant C2 OLED TV on sale for $1,699.99 - the lowest price we've ever seen. Rated as our best TV of 2022, the LG C2 packs a stunning OLED display, an a9 Gen5 AI Processor, Dolby Atmos, and voice control. If you want the latest and greatest TV, then this deal is for you.View Deal
(Image credit: Future)
Beats Studio Buds get a $50 price cut before Black Friday
The Beats Studio Buds are easily the best-sounding earbuds Beats has ever made. We gave them 4/5 stars in our Beats Studio Buds review: they’re comfortable to wear and they sound great, plus they support active noise cancellation.
Unfortunately, their call quality isn't perfect and they're missing Apple's H1 Wireless Chip. But at $99.99 - which is their current price at Amazon, down from $149.95 - they're a lot cheaper than Apple's AirPods Pro 2 $234. We think they're an absolute bargain for a premium pair of noise-canceling earbuds.
Beats Studio Buds:was $149.95now $99.95 at Amazon.com Beats Studio Buds are the best Beats earbuds you can buy, and Amazon's early Black Friday sale has the earbuds down to $99.95 - just $10 more than the record-low price. You're getting Active Noise Cancelling technology, a comfortable fit, and decent audio performance. Compared to Apple's AirPods Pro 2, which are priced at $234, this deal is a great alternative for premium earbuds under $100.View Deal
(Image credit: Future)
One of the best laptops ever made gets a $700 price cut
Dell has launched its Black Friday sale, and it's well worth a look if you need a new laptop. The one that caught our eye is this huge $700 discount on a high-end Dell XPS 15, which drops the price from $2,899 to $2,199.
It's a productivity powerhouse, as you might expect given the price, with new Intel Alder Lake processors and RTX GPUs packed into the classic XPS laptop design. We found that it's even capable of some moderate gaming. We gave it a full five stars in our Dell XPS 15 (2022) review.
Don't buy it if you don't need the best of the best - those specs are going to be overkill for a lot of people. But if you want to own what we think is arguably the perfect computer for most Windows users, this is a good deal. It's the lowest price we've seen so far.
Dell XPS 15, Intel Core i9:was $2,899.99now $2,199.99 at Dell Dell Black Friday deals are live, and you can get the powerful XPS 15 laptop on sale for $2,199.99 thanks to today's massive $700 discount. Named as one of our best laptops, the XPS 15 packs a 15.6-inch InfinityEdge display, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 series graphics, a 12th Generation Intel Core i9 processor, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD.View Deal
9 of the best Black Friday deals in the UK
We've looked at some of the best deals in the US - but what about in the UK? Here are a few things that stood out to our deals experts...
Champagne, wine and whiskey:from £6.99 at Amazon
With party season almost upon us, now is a good time to stock up the drinks cabinet. Amazon is here to help you do that for less, with savings of up to 28% on a selection of wines, champagnes, vodkas and whiskies. Single bottles or larger cases are available, including well-known brands such as Jameson and Absoslut.View Deal
Tassimo Happy Pod Coffee Machine and Costa Coffee Pods Bundle:£139.99£48 at Very
Save £92 – It's always handy when retailers throw in some actual coffee pods with their coffee machine products, and right now, Very is bundling the Tassimo Happy Pod with 64 Costa T-Disk favourites for the very digestible price of £48. Yes, you read that right. For less than £50, you can bag yourself a brand-new coffee machine and 64 actual coffees. That's 75p per coffee, plus a whole new piece of kitchen kit.View Deal
Yankee Candle sale:from £1.89 at Amazon
Set the right mood with this selection of Yankee Candle wax melts and candles from just £1.89. Given the time of year, there's a wide selection of Christmas-themed scents, but you can also pick up some more universal options if you'd rather not have a home smelling of cinnamon and cedar wood just yet.View Deal
Sony WF-C500 True Wireless Earbuds:was £90 now £49 at Amazon Under intense review, we called these Sony earbuds "great value for money" – but that was at the full asking price. With 45% off, we think they're an absolute steal and then some. Yes, 20 hours of battery life can be bettered – but 10 hours from the buds alone certainly can't at this price point. They're also light and comfortable, providing an exciting, musical sound. Oh, and they've only been this cheap once before. View Deal
Hisense 43-inch 4K UHD LED Smart TV:£329£249 at Currys
Save £80 - If you need a 4K TV on a budget, check out this Hisense set on sale at Currys. A hefty price cut brings this 43-inch model well under £300, which isn't bad considering you get support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and a host of smart TV functions. With Amazon Alexa built-in, this one is a solid all-rounder for those who don't want to spend big. 50-inch:£379£299| 55-inch:£429£329View Deal
Asus VivoBook 15: £379.99 £229.99 at Amazon
Save £150 – We're seriously impressed with how good this Asus VivoBook 15 is in terms of value for money. It offers impressive performance for all general everyday tasks and light use thanks to its Intel i3 processor and 8GB RAM - a combination of solid components we rarely see for so cheap. There isn't a better deal out there today if you're after a capable laptop on a budget of under £250.View Deal
Sony WH-1000XM5 Noise-CancellingWireless Headphones:£380£299 at Amazon
Save £81 – Quite simply the newest and best in Sony's class-leading wireless over-ear lineup. The older XM4 were outstanding and the XM3 before it were excellent, so it'll come as little surprise to know that Sony's latest XM5 proposition are also incredibly hard to beat – especially with a whopping 21% off. They've only been as cheap as this once before - and these cans only launched in May 2022. Our advice? This is a top deal on a winning pair of new noise-cancelling headphones. View Deal
Shark IZ202UKTDBAnti Hair Wrap Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner with Flexology:£379.99£199.99 at Shark
Save £180 - Get this limited edition deluxe Shark cordless vacuum with a free car detailing kit and filter for £180 off the original price. There's a lot going for this stick vac, which has a runtime of up to 40 minutes, an anti-allergen complete seal and comes with 4 attachments: a crevice tool, an upholstery tool and an anti-hair wrap pet tool. It's a good choice of cordless vacuum for pet owners, and it'll be a good idea to buy this deal now while stock lasts.View Deal
Sony 55-inch A80J OLED TV:£1,399£999 at Currys
Save £400 – This is a massive reduction on one of Sony's best OLED TVs. Getting one of these larger high-end 4K displays for £1,000 or less is a good deal as they don't often fall this low. It's an excellent price for an all-around TV that offers fantastic image quality with vibrant colors and deep blacks, while the XR processing tech ensures a clear picture and powerful sound. It's a great gaming TV, too, with 4K at 120fps support and VRR to give you the smoothest experience with minimal input lag.View Deal
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Russian users will soon be unable to connect to the VPN service offered by Kaspersky.
The Moscow-based company has announced it is set to halt the operations and sales of its Secure Connection VPN, assuring users that the process will be staged gradually to have as little impact as possible.
The company's free VPN version is set to be suspended from November 15 onwards, and paid customers will be able to subscribe until December 2022 and enjoy the service up till the end of 2023.
Russia VPNs facing growing pressures
The company announced the details of the shutdown in a blog post, explaining, "the situation is completely similar with Kaspersky Secure Connection, which is part of various integrated solutions for home users."
This means that for any users who have already paid for its security bundle, the application will be available until the subscription expires, and vice versa - so those using its free option have just a few days to look into alternatives.
Kaspersky further pointed out that this decision will apply for people in Russia only.
"The Russian-language version of the application will still be available on Kaspersky Lab websites and mobile app stores. For users outside of Russia, the set of available features and VPN servers will not change."
TechRadar Pro has reached out to Kaspersky asking the reason behind this move, but a company's spokesperson said there's nothing else they can say about the decision at this time.
And while the use of such security services soared among Russians following the war in Ukraine, authorities have reaffirmed the intention to block VPN software that violate Russian law by granting access to illegal content.
At the same time, providers that don't comply with the requirement to connect to the Federal State Information System - which enable state censorship and control of users' activities - will also be pushed to leave the country.
More recent is the Roskomnadzor's order to state-owned companies to share details over their use of VPN services.
