Claude Code Discovered Hidden Crypto Miner on Mac

A developer faced overheating and slowdowns on his Mac, leading to an unusual way of diagnosing the problem.

Instead of standard monitoring utilities, he tasked the AI agent Claude Code with writing a custom program to track CPU temperature.

Sensor analysis revealed a hidden XMRig crypto miner consuming 1175% CPU power, equivalent to nearly 12 fully loaded cores.

The chip temperature reached critical levels of 112 °C. The program was used to mine Monero (XMR).

Artificial intelligence not only detected the threat but also helped the developer stop the miner and remove its autostart mechanism.

This case demonstrates new possibilities for applying AI in cybersecurity and system equipment diagnostics.