Which type of malware is often used to generate illicit income through cryptocurrency, slowing down infected computers?

Coin miners are a specific type of malware designed to utilize the processing power of infected computers to mine cryptocurrencies without the owner's knowledge or consent. This process requires significant computation and can result in the affected systems slowing down due to the excessive resource consumption.

When coin miners infect a system, they silently execute mining operations, typically aiming to generate cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Ethereum, which can then be sold for profit by the attacker. This form of malware is particularly harmful as it not only affects the performance of the computer but also poses a risk of increasing electricity costs and potential hardware damage due to continuous high-level usage.

In contrast, overwrite viruses focus on corrupting files, and while they can cause significant harm, they do not generate income through cryptocurrency mining. Spyware is designed to collect personal information and monitor user activity without consent, which does not relate to generating illicit income through mining. Keyloggers are used to record keystrokes to capture sensitive data like passwords or credit card numbers, but they do not perform mining tasks that affect system performance.