# Claude Code Detects Hidden Crypto Miner on Mac October 19, 2026 at 12:11 PM > A developer used the Claude Code AI tool to identify and remove a hidden xmrig crypto miner that was causing extreme CPU usage and heat. A developer building a temperature monitor application discovered a hidden crypto miner on their **Mac** using **Claude Code**. The AI tool identified the **xmrig** task consuming 1175% CPU across 12 cores, causing the system temperature to peak at 112 degrees **Celsius**. Claude Code found the malware was added to the startup roster on August 29. The tool offered to stop the startup item, terminate the miner, and move files to quarantine. The developer tasked the AI with the cleanup, though one file required manual deletion. This incident highlights the utility of AI coding agents in identifying system anomalies. Following the Claude Code intervention, a **Malwarebytes** scan was performed to ensure the system was secure, confirming the removal of the resource-heavy mining software. #ClaudeCode #CryptoMining [#CyberSecurity]() #MacOS [#ArtificialIntelligence]() ## Related news ## [OpenAI Agents Exploit Cache for Covert Comms]() October 25, 2026 at 09:54 AM ## [Asus Patches Critical Router Security Flaws]() October 24, 2026 at 02:17 PM ## [NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPUs Repurposed for AI Servers]() October 24, 2026 at 08:48 AM ## [NVIDIA Doubles DGX Spark Memory to 1 TB at GTC]() October 22, 2026 at 08:33 AM ## [AMD and Intel Align on x86 AI Development]() October 21, 2026 at 11:06 AM