A mining Trojan and an ordinary virus differ primarily in their purpose and behavior.
An ordinary virus is malicious software designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to a system. It may delete files, steal data, or corrupt system functionality. For example, a virus might infect a computer and delete important documents or lock the user out of their system for ransom.
A mining Trojan, on the other hand, is a specific type of malware that hijacks a victim's computing resources—primarily CPU or GPU power—to mine cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Monero without the user's consent. Unlike a virus that aims to destroy or steal data, a mining Trojan focuses on silently using the system for profit. For instance, a mining Trojan might run in the background, consuming high CPU usage, slowing down the computer, and increasing electricity costs.
In cloud environments, mining Trojans can infiltrate virtual machines (VMs) to mine crypto at scale. To mitigate such threats, Tencent Cloud offers Host Security (CWP), which detects and blocks malicious mining activities, along with Cloud Firewall to prevent unauthorized access. Regular security scans and monitoring are essential to protect cloud resources from such threats.