AI Agent Discovers Cryptominer Draining Mac While Building Security App

Claude Code, an AI coding agent, detected an active XMRig cryptominer consuming 12 cores and pushing a Mac's CPU temperature to 112°C—a discovery made while helping a developer build a temperature monitoring application. The incident underscores both the utility of AI agents in diagnosing system anomalies and their expanding role as an enlarged attack surface in an increasingly complex security landscape.