Torrent users may want to go easy on the free downloads, as their most resilient website, The Pirate Bay, is supposedly tapping into visitors' central processing units (CPU) for the site's cryptocurrency mining activity.

According to Engadget, websites like Pirate Bay have no legal way of generating revenue since their sites are illegal, making them ineligible for advertisements. This is why the website has found a way to "borrow" its visitors' CPUs to mine for an online cryptocurrency called "Monero."

This happens regardless of whether site visitors agree to it or not. The discovery spread fast after some visitors noticed the JavaScript code that executes the deed. It mostly happens in the "search results" and "category listings" pages where users usually spend time in. The said code is hidden in the website's footer.

The website's representatives have since spoken out about the issue and, according to another website, TorrentFreak, it was testing the method for 24 hours as a new way to generate income and that it may also completely replace ads.

The discovery has drawn flak from users, however. As suggested by analyst Jessica Groopman in an interview with Linux Insider, the reactions were not because of the way The Pirate Bay borrows resources from its visitors to fund itself. Rather, the response was due to the way it was done by the website's moderators — secretly. She also suggested that the website could have just asked first or, at the very least, informed the users.

Still, users who do not want anyone tapping into their systems for cryptocurrency mining can actually block certain sources of such currency in their Google Chrome browser. Chrome has an extension called No Coin, which is a newly released extension aiming to block coin mining websites like Coinhive, which may or may not be the service The Pirate Bay is using.

Beyond that, however, there is no better way to stop The Pirate Bay from using visitors' system than simply refraining from visiting the website.