Watch Out for The Cortana Runtime Broker CPU Miner

There is a new malicious tool out in the wild that is designed to mimic the legitimate Cortana application and associated processes.

The malware in question works as a crypto miner and will abuse your system's resources for the benefit of the malware's operator.

In the case of the Cortana runtime broker miner, the malware pretends to be a legitimate component of the Windows Cortana assistant, more specifically the so-called "runtime broker" process.

In reality, the process is malicious and has nothing to do with Windows, Microsoft or Cortana. It's a crypto mining malware that will put immense strain on your hardware to mine cryptocurrency for the malware's maker.

Crypto mining malware is often distributed through websites that claim to offer cracks for paid applications and games. You should be very careful with your online activity in general, even if you never visit this sort of website because a crypto miner like this can reduce the lifespan of your hardware if left unchecked long enough and will severely diminish your user experience while it'd draining your hardware's resources.