Hacked Nvidia driver for mining Ethereum riddled with viruses
A modified driver for Nvidia graphics cards that promised to remove the hash rate limits set by the manufacturer has been discovered to contain malware.
The driver — named Nvidia RTX LHR v2 Unlocker and free to download from GitHub — would modify Windows Powershell policies, delete and create files in system directories, and cause irregularly high CPU usage.
According to Tom’s Hardware, the malware was discovered by Hassan Mujtaba, who said that all links to the download page on GitHub had been removed.
“We ask everyone to avoid downloading or using it in any capacity,” Mujtaba added.
Both major graphics processing unit (GPU) manufacturers, Nvidia and AMD, have built hash-rate limiters into their gaming GPUs to make them less attractive to cryptocurrency miners.
Update: All links to the Github asset download page have been removed since this tool is apparently infused with malware and we ask everyone to avoid downloading or using it in any capacity.
Video:https://t.co/iYi96jyRv0 https://t.co/VzoG9CqHaW
— Hassan Mujtaba (@hms1193) February 23, 2022
This is mainly because cryptocurrency miners tend to buy up a lot of the GPU supply for their mining operations.
MyBroadband previously spoke to Jess Raftopoulos, a Dreamware Tech director, regarding the impact of cryptocurrency mining on GPU prices and supplies.
“GPUs are popular with crypto mining as the initial setup is straightforward (programs such as Nicehash provide a user-friendly platform for beginner miners), and minimal investment is required in comparison to their pricier counterparts,” she said.
“Oftentimes buying several 3060 Ti GPUs is a lot cheaper than buying a dedicated mining machine such as an Antminer.”
To make their products less attractive to miners, Nvidia and AMD introduced low hash rate (LHR) variations of their GPUs, limiting their mining capabilities without impacting gaming performance.
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