Bitcoin Mining Software in Famous Websites Hijacks Computers

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    According to a report, Bitcoin mining software is misusing the computers and other devices of visitors to well-known websites. Whereas using a VPN can save you from this financial hassle as it replaces your IP address with a new unknown IP address. It eventually makes it difficult for any such mining software to hijack your system computing resources. So, If you still don’t use a VPN service then you must opt for it. Have a look at ExpressVPN and NordVPN

    Security researchers found that some websites such as Showtime and the torrenting site The Pirate Bay and other websites carry such a mechanism that captures the computing ability of the visitors  CPU to earn bitcoin and other means of cryptocurrency.

    The bitcoin mining software is actually indistinguishable on an exterior level to the sites’ visitors. This is why cybersecurity firm Cloudflare blocked all those sites which apply it, TorrentFreak reported.

    Ways To Block The Bitcoin Mining Software:

    When the users visit such sites that are running mining software, they experience slower computer speed. It is surely an indication for the visitors. However, the visitor can get rid of this mining software by blocking it with the help of an adblocker. They can also turn down this software hijack by disabling Javascript.

    Who Is Responsible For Loading Mining Software?

    There are just two factors responsible for loading the software.
    Either the hackers load it as it happened with Showtime, or the site owner loads it himself willingly. In order to make money with the help of the software.

    Websites that intentionally Loads Mining Software:

    As it turns out, there is a site which used mining software deliberately was Proxybunker.online; Its a site which links to torrenting and streaming websites. According to the owner of the site, CloudFlare blocked his website from using Cloudflare services due to running a cryptocurrency miner.

    “Multiple domains in your account were injecting Coinhive mining code without notifying users and without any option to disabling the mining,” wrote Justin Paine, head of trust and safety at CloudFlare. “We consider this to be malware, and as such, the account was suspended, and all domains removed from CloudFlare.”

    What Is Coinhive?

    Coinhive is a famous tool which is used to mine cryptocurrency surreptitiously. It basically mines for the Monero, a cryptocurrency same as bitcoin.
    The Pirate Bay used coinhive to mine monero secretly. Therefore It was caught hijacking visitors CPU. Hence its users criticized it for not informing them that it was using the software. Whereas the site responded releasing a statement last week; declaring that the Monero miner was just an experiment.

    The Technique Used To Hack User Web Browser:

    Experts attributed the method of hijacking visitors’ web browsers to mine cryptocurrency as “cryptojacking”. This seems more favourite for latest cryptocurrencies that include characteristics that are untraceable to law enforcement.

    Mining Bitcoin:

    Mining bitcoin is the method to verify bitcoin transactions and enter their record to bitcoin’s public ledger for generating innovative units of the currency. This entails huge amounts of computing power. Though latest cryptocurrencies with cheaper market worth are easier to mine. click here to know what is bitcoin and how it can be used for secure online transactions?

    Hackers are also hijacking devices linked to the Internet of Things, like smart fridges, toasters and light bulbs.