Recently, we have heard that one of the popular torrent websites, The Pirate Bay, was caught running JavaScript on its site’s footer, which utilizes users’ CPU power to mine Monero coins.
The Pirate Bay team later confirmed that they were testing a new method to generate money. Users will feel a sudden slowness in their computer whenever they visit a site that mines digital currencies.
Let me tell you, this practice is nothing new, but the Pirate Bay was the first popular torrent site that was seen using a digital currency miner. What makes this thing worse? Well, any website owner can use this new technique to generate revenue without users’ permission.
Block Cryptocurrency Mining In Your Web Browser
Bitcoin mining malware is rising in popularity at an aggressive rate. Here’s how you can spot a website that is using your web browser to mine crypto-coins
If you ever visited a website and felt a sudden slowness in your computer? There could be possible chances that your web browser is running a script to mine cryptocurrencies.
The best way to spot the miner is by checking the CPU usage. You can use this technique to see if a particular website is slaving your processor and earning money. Look for those huge spikes in your CPU usage.
How To Block Crypto Currency Miners
Well, there are not one but a few ways to block CryptoCurrency miners from running. For that, you must keep your PC’s Task Manager open as you visit websites.
An unnecessary and sudden spike in CPU usage is a clear indication of Cryptocurrency mining. If you feel that a site is silently mining cryptocurrency, you can avoid visiting such websites.
Blocking It Manually
The manual process to block cryptocurrency miners on your computer exists. This way, you can block particular domains that you find harmful or irritating.
For that, you need to visit this article to learn how to block websites on a Windows computer.
If you are using a Linux computer, you need to open the host file by running the following command and add 0.0.0.0 coin-hive.com at the end. Enter these command
sudo nano /private/etc/hosts
Now on the windows operating system, you need to navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc and edit the host file to add 0.0.0.0 coin-hive.com at the end.
Using minerBlock Extension
This extension allows users to block cryptocurrency miners in the web browser. This extension can automatically block miners for you.
Using Ad Blocker
Adblock is indeed a great extension for blocking ads. However, you can also block a script using Adblocker. Install the Ad Blocker extension and then go to Customize > Block an ad by its URL. Then add the following URL in the text box
https://coin-hive.com/lib/coinhive.min.js
Using NoScript
Well, NoScript is for Firefox users only. This javascript-blocking extension is powerful enough to block crypto miners in the web browser. However, the script is very powerful and can break many websites because it disables all scripts running on pages.
This extension will make you safe from digital miners. However, check your CPU usage whenever you feel a sudden slowness in your computer. So, what do you think about this? Share your views in the comment box below.
