{"id":83253,"date":"2017-12-14T15:56:52","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T23:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/securingtomorrow.mcafee.com\/?p=83253"},"modified":"2025-08-13T22:39:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T05:39:34","slug":"starbucks-bitcoin-mining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/privacy-identity-protection\/starbucks-bitcoin-mining\/","title":{"rendered":"Starbucks Bitcoin Mining Incident Reminds Us of the Risks of Public Wi-Fi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most of us order our coffee with half and half, or a pastry on the side. But what Buenos Aires Starbucks goers didn\u2019t realize is that they were ordering their cup of joe with a side of Bitcoin mining. Just this this week, a coffee lover and Stensul\u2019s CEO Noah Dinkin noticed<\/a> that while logging into Wi-Fi provided by one of the coffee chain’s Buenos Aires outlets, his device was being used to mine for cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n

First off \u2013 what exactly is Bitcoin mining? As defined by Investopedia<\/a>, Bitcoin mining is the process by which transactions are verified and added to the public ledger, known as the block chain, and also the means through which new bitcoin are released. Anyone with access to the internet and suitable hardware can participate in mining.<\/p>\n

So, you can only imagine Dinkin\u2019s surprise when he discovered<\/a> the caf\u00e9\u2019s Wi-Fi doing exactly that. \u201cHi Starbucks, did you know that your in-store Wi-Fi provider in Buenos Aires forces a 10 second delay when you first connect to the Wi-Fi so it can mine Bitcoin using a customer’s laptop?\u201d he asked on Twitter. Although Dinkin initially believed the code was forcing his laptop to try to mine for Bitcoins, other Twitter users noted that it had in fact been designed to mine another digital currency \u2013 Monero.<\/p>\n

It seems this was a surprise to Starbucks too, which later made it publically aware that their Wi-Fi provider was hit with malware. \u201cAs soon as we were alerted of the situation in this specific store last week, we took swift action to ensure our internet provider resolved the issue and made the changes needed in order to ensure our customers could use Wi-Fi in our store safely,\u201d the official Starbucks account\u00a0tweeted<\/a>\u00a0to Dinkin.<\/p>\n

This entire incident was a bit surprising, as victims’ computers are normally targeted for Bitcoin mining via infected websites. Regardless, this issue does highlight one thing: the risk of using public Wi-Fi.<\/p>\n

Tips to Protect Yourself From Bitcoin Mining Attack<\/h2>\n

Therefore, to protect yourself from this Bitcoin mining attack and others that leverage public Wi-Fi, be sure to follow these tips:<\/p>\n