Block Websites From Using Your CPU For Cryptocurrency Mining

Last Updated: December 5th, 2022

Those who are not new to cryptocurrency are aware of the rise and fall of the prices of cryptocurrencies around the world. The prices of Bitcoin is going down after the rise of the new digital coin, Bitcoin Gold. Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies used to make online payments which cannot be traced, they are decentralized in nature as they are not owned by any bank or Institutions. Cryptocurrencies are mined by users using the CPU of the computers. Crypto-mining has gained popularity in recent times with some websites using the CPU of others to mine their currencies by using Cryptocurrency mining script.

Bitcoin Alternative

The Pirate Bay Mining

Recently it was discovered that a popular torrent website, Torrent Bay was using users CPU to mine the digital currency “Monero”. Pirate Bay used a simple JavaScript code on the footer some of its pages to mine cryptocurrency. The pages ran a code from Coinhive in the background which converted users CPU power into cryptocurrency “Monero” for the administrators of the site. The Pirate Bay users reported of a spike in their CPU usage. The website confirmed that they tested a Monero JavaScript miner as they really want to get rid of all the ads and they need money to keep the website running. Pirate Bay can use crypto-mining as an alternative way to earn revenue. The website used users CPU to mine Monero coins as it requires less effort and processing power as compared to the mining of Bitcoin.

Pirate Bay admin asked a question to its users, “Do you want ads or do you want to give away a few of your CPU cycles every time you visit the site?”Many Pirate Bay users are supporting the use of CPU by the website to mine cryptocurrency instead of notorious adverts.

How To Find If Your Computer Is Secretly Mining Cryptocurrency

Malware containing Crypto- mining tools is on the rise, with many websites using your CPU to mine crypto coins. If you want to know that if your computer is mining cryptocurrency secretly and making others rich, find out how. Windows users can check their CPU usage by opening Task Manager while Mac users can do the same on Activity Monitor. If you see a spike in CPU usage while visiting a particular site or if you find a high CPU usage even if all tabs are closed and no applications are running you may be a target of a crypto-mining malware. A Reddit users who visited Pirate Bay website complained his CPU was running at 80‑85 % efficiency.

How To Block Websites From Using Your CPU To Mine Cryptocurrency

1. Use minerBlock Extension For Chrome

minerBlock is an open-source useful extension for Chrome users which lets you block cryptocurrency mining on the web browser. The extension has a list of popular miner domains with an option to whitelist domains for which you don’t mind lending your CPU to mine.

2. Use No Coin Chrome Extension

Chrome users can also install and use No Coin to block websites from using your CPU to mine crypto coins. When you visit a website, No Coin will detect a coin miner. The extension lets you block coin miners and also to whitelist such websites for a particular time.

3. Use NoScript Security Suite For Firefox

Firefox users can install an award-winning NoScript Security Suite extension which allows JavaScript, Java and other executable content to run only from sites which you trust and protect you against XSS and Clickjacking attacks.

By using the above extensions for Chrome and Firefox you will be able to block websites from mining cryptocurrencies using your CPU.

Some websites like Pirate Bay are using your CPU to mine cryptocurrency to earn revenue and replace ads, they do so by adding a simple JavaScript code on their websites. What are your views on crypto-mining using JavaScript? Are you willing to trade your CPU for privacy?