Although Peter Parker isn’t a clever crypto scammer, the name Spiderman has become increasingly connected with the mining industry. ReasonLabs, a renowned source of cybersecurity mitigation and detection software, recently detected a new type of malware masquerading as the upcoming Spiderman film and infiltrating end-user systems.

“Spiderman: No Way Home,” being the most frequently discussed film in a long time, promises a wonderful chance for cybercriminals. It’s an opportunity to communicate with millions of potential victims and gain access to computers all around the world. Most of today’s malevolent actors have to do is offer their victims access to the most recent film, and they’ll get full access to the device.

ReasonLabs uncovered bitcoin mining malware that masquerades as a torrent for the “Spiderman: No Way Home” movie, enticing people all across the globe to download the video and expose their computers to hackers.

Followers of the Spiderman movie series have indeed been eager to get their hands on the film someplace because all fans are still unable to visit conventional theaters due to lockdown constraints. This could explain why so many people downloaded the “leaked” file spiderman_net_putidomoi.torrent.exe when it originally appeared.

However, as per ReasonLabs, this is far from the first time hackers have attempted to dupe customers into downloading something they don’t want. While the majority of individuals are aware of the consequences of downloading suspicious files, fraudsters are skilled at making their downloads appear legitimate. Before implying the Spiderman costume, this crypto-mining virus may have appeared in a variety of camouflage. It’s also been propagating as apps like Discord or Windows Updater, according to ReasonLabs.

The malware embedded in the “Spiderman: No Way Home” torrent is not currently registered on VirusTotal, but ReasonLabs suspects it’s been there for a while and has affected a large number of people.

Miners are commonly deployed under the cover of regular apps and files, according to ReasonLabs. Because they provide simple access to cash, crypto-mining programs concealed in files have been progressively prevalent. It’s simple to attract as many people as possible by concealing a crypto-miner in a file that will draw a lot of attention, such as a Spiderman movie.

Whenever a user downloads the package, the code generates persistence, adds exclusions to Windows Defender to prevent you from monitoring its activities, and launches watchdogs for protection. The malware’s main goal is to mine a cryptocurrency known as Monero (XMR), which is among the most undetectable and pseudonymous cryptocurrencies popular on the dark web.

Users who have been infected with malware might not even notice any changes to their machine right away. Nevertheless, when the software consumes more of your CPU’s resources, you may notice a decrease in performance and issues with your computer’s overall functionality. Furthermore, the cost of the damage is likely to be reflected in the energy bill, as mining machines require extra power.