Websites use your CPU to mine cryptocurrency even when you close your browser

[suicidalfranco]

Still better than ads

[captain_to_fire]

29 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

Still better than ads

I’d rather have some obtrusive ads like a non-skippable pre-roll video on YouTube than cryptomining malware jacking up my CPU without my consent.

[yian88]

use this https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search/?platform=windows&q=no+miner

[Cryosec]

another good way to block cryptominers is to block all traffic to stuff like coin-hive.com, coinhive.com and coinhive.min.js (or whatever other websites they point to)

 

I do this through DNS blocking with a Raspberry Pi (Pi-Hole)

[Matu20]

So basically shady websites do shady shit, who knew.

[MyName13]

5 hours ago, hey_yo_ said:

I’m currently at my phone so I don’t know if it’s possible but you can try opening a Chrome tab and tear it as a separate window then reduce it to the smallest size possible and try dragging it behind your taskbar. 

It's still visible in the task bar.Browsers can't (and shouldn't) be open without being visible in the task bar.

[vanished]

It amazes me that this has continued to be a thing.  I am convinced now that a) we won't see it disappear, but b) it will never go "mainstream" - ie, it will forever remain a sketchy thing done by sketchy sites and considered by all to be malware.  Why?  Because no legitimate site would even consider using it for the following (apparently not) obvious reasons:

• Running this on any mobile device (smartphone) is totally impractical because:
  • the performance would be so low it's not worth it
  • it would totally kill the battery
• Running this on any laptop is totally impractical because:
  • (on ultrabooks at least) the performance would be so low it's not worth it
  • it would totally kill the battery
  • It may cause heat issues and thermal throttling
• Running this on anything but an enthusiast's custom desktop (of which there are extremely few - remember, most desktop PCs are some random cheap prebuilt) is totally impractical because:
  • the performance, while perhaps sufficient to actually be worth it (but this is still a big if) would cripple the machine and make it unusable for anything else
  • it could cause heat issues and even PSU concerns
  • it could kill components faster
• Regardless of the hardware, there is a very clear and distinct different from ads.  Ads and tracking and all that is something that, as much as we hate it, can pretty much make money off you without any direct negative impact to you or your wallet.  Mining is different.  It can damage your hardware, it will cost you money, and for these reasons I just can't see any respectable site considering it as an option.

[captain_to_fire]

3 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Running this on anything but an enthusiast's custom desktop (of which there are extremely few - remember, most desktop PCs are some random cheap prebuilt) is totally impractical because:

The more I look at it, mining cryptocurrency is like F@H. 

3 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

I just can't see any respectable site considering it as an option.

Most websites doing secret cryptocurrency mining are P2P/torrenting websites who takes advantage of monetizing traffic.

[vanished]

Just now, hey_yo_ said:

The more I look at it, mining cryptocurrency is like F@H. 

The technical act of intensive computation is the same, yes, but the outcome is very different

Just now, hey_yo_ said:

Most websites doing secret cryptocurrency mining are P2P/torrenting websites who takes advantage of monetizing traffic.

Yes, I know, but there seems to be fears that this will spread to other more "normal" sites, and while I agree that would be bad, I don't see it as a likely outcome.

[Mooshi]

I might be showing my age, but this was never an issue when I was growing up because the idea of made up digital currency with artificial value would have considered too ridiculous to be taken seriously. Oh 90's me, Peppridge Farms remembers.

[LAwLz]

6 hours ago, Mooshi said:

I might be showing my age, but this was never an issue when I was growing up because the idea of made up digital currency with artificial value would have considered too ridiculous to be taken seriously. Oh 90's me, Peppridge Farms remembers.

You do realize that the American dollars sitting on your bank account is literally a digital currency with artficial value, right? 

 

The same can be said for almost any currency. 

[nexus6]

3GB of RAM?  Can it run Crysis?

[nexus6]

51 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

You do realize that the American dollars sitting on your bank account is literally a digital currency with artficial value, right? 

 

The same can be said for almost any currency. 

It's interesting though, the dollar's (and almost all other currencies these days) value is literally based on your faith that the government sees value in your cash.

 

Bitcon et al's value comes from faith that other individuals see value in it.

 

I know who I trust more, and it certainly isn't the fucking government.

[jagdtigger]

9 minutes ago, nexus6 said:

It's interesting though, the dollar's (and almost all other currencies these days) value is literally based on your faith that the government sees value in your cash.

 

Bitcon et al's value comes from faith that other individuals see value in it.

 

I know who I trust more, and it certainly isn't the fucking government.

Then buy gold bullion's, it always had a good value and always will....

[captain_to_fire]

25 minutes ago, nexus6 said:

It's interesting though, the dollar's (and almost all other currencies these days) value is literally based on your faith that the government sees value in your cash.

It's called "fiat currency". Nothing is backing it up except the faith of the people to it as an item for exchange for goods and services.

[Coaxialgamer]

IAs much as i don't agree with the practice, i can't help but applaud the people who did this. It's genius because it's so simple. No need for any new exploit, they are just reusing existing tech in a new way. It's basically hidden in plain site. 

 

Sure, people might notice if they open the task bar, but the vast majority of users won't even think to check. 

[kingfurykiller]

On 11/29/2017 at 8:06 PM, Vandorlot said:

How do you look behind the clock?

Does no one do autohide on their taskbar anymore? 

[nexus6]

3 hours ago, hey_yo_ said:

It's called "fiat currency". Nothing is backing it up except the faith of the people to it as an item for exchange for goods and services.

When I really think about it, it makes it seem so fragile!  As if it could topple over at any minute.

 

Like, unnervingly so.

[captain_to_fire]

15 minutes ago, nexus6 said:

When I really think about it, it makes it seem so fragile!  As if it could topple over at any minute.

 

Like, unnervingly so.

I don’t know. I’m not an economist but I know that whenever I buy something with my credit card and the mortgage I took to have a car is not from the bank’s own assets, it is someone else’s money. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/022416/why-banks-dont-need-your-money-make-loans.asp 

[DrMacintosh]

Just don’t even mess with Crypto. It literally has the largest legislative target on its head. 

[AresKrieger]

On 11/29/2017 at 8:05 PM, hey_yo_ said:

it can even evade ad blockers. 

It can evade some, It doesn't get around mine though to be fair I use custom settings that are extremely aggressive against malware pop-ups and redirects

[vanished]

On 11/30/2017 at 7:02 PM, Ryan_Vickers said:

It amazes me that this has continued to be a thing.  I am convinced now that a) we won't see it disappear, but b) it will never go "mainstream" - ie, it will forever remain a sketchy thing done by sketchy sites and considered by all to be malware.  Why?  Because no legitimate site would even consider using it for the following (apparently not) obvious reasons:

[snip]

Linus mentioned some of these points on WAN show too so, I think I'm on to something

[nexus6]

On 12/1/2017 at 4:04 PM, hey_yo_ said:

I don’t know. I’m not an economist but I know that whenever I buy something with my credit card and the mortgage I took to have a car is not from the bank’s own assets, it is someone else’s money. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/022416/why-banks-dont-need-your-money-make-loans.asp 

Yeah, banks literally make money from nothing don't they lol?

 

My "fragile" theory was based around the assumption that gold HAS intrinsic worth, but I dug a little deeper.

 

After all the elements are removed from the periodic table that are either harmful or impractical (radioactive or gas for example) we are left with 30.

 

After that we need the element to be rare, because if there is lots of it - not so valuable anymore.

 

This leaves us with 5 - rhodium, palladium, platinum, silver and gold.

 

Rhodium and palladium were discovered way after civilization needed cash, silver "tarnishes" too easily and platinum melts at too high a temperature to efficiently mould it to coins, which leaves only gold.

 

I see two things which have happened here:  1) humanity has implemented as much thought as possible to this problem - assigning value to something which previously had none via a process of elimination, and 2) We have assigned value to something, therefore it has value to us.

 

The latter is what's happened with modern day notes.

 

 

But the government holds a 51% stake in that trust, that's my gripe.

 

 

**All above facts were taken from here and whittled down by me**