LandzDown Forum
Software & More => Computer Problems, Questions and Solutions! => Topic started by: plodr on February 12, 2018, 02:48:19 PM
-
After reading what happened in the UK
http://www.computerweekly.com/news/252434855/Criminals-hijack-government-sites-to-mine-cryptocurrency-used-to-hide-wealth
my question is: Is there a site or some software that I can use to test that my computer has not been corralled to mine crypto currency?
-
Something in the McAfee Multi Access security suite, supplied by my ISP, is blocking both "CoinHive" and "BrowseAloud"...... I decided not to override.
-
Blocking: How to Block Cryptocurrency Miners in Your Web Browser (https://www.howtogeek.com/334018/how-to-block-cryptocurrency-miners-in-your-web-browser/)
A bit of info in the "How to find out if my PC is secretly mining cryptocurrency? section in this article: 6 Easy Ways To Block Cryptocurrency Mining In Your Web Browser (https://fossbytes.com/block-cryptocurrency-mining-in-browser/)
-
Thanks to the Queen of Security! :)
I'll go read the links and take some notes.
I try and be safe but when government sites get hacked, even safe sites can't actually be trusted as safe.
uBlockOrigin blocked the coinhive site in Palemoon. It didn't get as far as MBAM blocking it.
-
Love uBlock Origin! I have it on both Pale Moon and Microsoft Edge. If you've gone to the dashboard and added HP Hosts or MVPS Hosts, that is likely why the conhive site was blocked ahead of MBAM.
-
No, I haven't done a thing with any Hosts files.
-
Love uBlock Origin! I have it on both Pale Moon and Microsoft Edge. If you've gone to the dashboard and added HP Hosts or MVPS Hosts, that is likely why the conhive site was blocked ahead of MBAM.
Thanks for the tip. :)
It was easy enough to add "No Coin" to Firefox, but I was wondering what to do about Edge. "uBlock Origin" is one of the extensions available for Edge, and adding HP Hosts or MVPS Hosts were options.
-
If I already have Ublock Origin and MBAM PRO, do I need another coin mining blocker?
-
I think that is sufficient.
-
Thanks! I had noticed FireFox has a couple extensions for that and was wondering.
-
Love uBlock Origin! I have it on both Pale Moon and Microsoft Edge. If you've gone to the dashboard and added HP Hosts or MVPS Hosts, that is likely why the conhive site was blocked ahead of MBAM.
Corrine, on my Windows 7 computer I usually use Pale Moon (with Adblock Latitude 3.0.3.1 extension), yet sometimes Firefox or Internet Explorer. I also have "SeaMonkey" installed, yet never use it.
Please give us the specific instructions on how to install the uBlock Origin (and also "uBlock Origin Updater"?). Is uBlock Origin easy to install, and keep updated? Also, will using uBlock Origin alone keep us safe from the crypto-mining scripts / secret CPU usage? I read through the articles you cited. I currently use MBAM, yet don't wish to pay for MBAM Pro.
As always, your expert advice is greatly appreciated!
Ps; If you have any additional advice for those of us who often use Safari, I would greatly appreciate it!
-
uBlock Origin is now tricky to install in Palemoon since Firefox went to the new type of addon. Mozilla has removed all the old type addons.
I found an easier way:
Go here https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/versions/
and find a version, the newest you can find, that has a green download button. 1.13.8 can be installed.
Then go here and install the uBlock Origin updater
https://addons.palemoon.org/extensions/privacy-and-security/
After you have them both showing in your addons, check for updates and uBO should update to 1.15.6
-
Would it be useful to have a discussion about using a hosts file vs. a browser–based ad blocker? Or both?
-
John, uBlock Origin is available for Safari on GitHub. You may want to read this article to get a bit of background on uBlock Origin: macOS: uBlock Origin comes to Safari | CIO (https://www.cio.com/article/3147355/consumer-electronics/macos-ublock-origin-comes-to-safari.html). The download links at GitHub are in the article.
-
While we're on the topic of uBlock Origin, some time ago Satrow directed me to a thread on the Pale Moon forum with suggestions for setting it up. Since I can't find the thread now, I made screen copies of the setup I have. The options are available by selecting Options > Show Dashboard from the extension.
(https://i.imgur.com/r6QT6Fa.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ocR0iy8.png)
-
Corrine, thank you so much!
-
You're welcome, John.
-
If I'm not mistaken, the uBlock settings you indicated in the screenshot were all checked by default... with the exception of hpHosts' Ad and tracking servers, which you then added.
-
That may be. It has been so long that I don't remember. :)
Going back to Winchester73's question:
Would it be useful to have a discussion about using a hosts file vs. a browser–based ad blocker? Or both?
Wondering if having both would slow down the system. My thoughts were that with a HOSTS file incorporated in uBlock Origin, it is one less thing to update. What do others think?
-
uBlock Origin is not available for IE (and perhaps some other browsers)... so if one wants HOSTS protection to include IE, Outlook/LiveMail, Messengers &etc., it seems using the HOSTS file --- which covers everything --- would definitely be the way to go... even if this means having to manually update it.
-
There's a thread recently started on the Pale Moon forum: Crypto-mining Blocker (https://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=18347), which already links to info for Firefox and other browsers and hosts file blocking.
-
I knew I could count on you, Satrow! Already using Easy List. For IE, although it doesn't include a HOSTS file, Adblock Plus includes Easy List by default.
-
Wondering if having both would slow down the system. My thoughts were that with a HOSTS file incorporated in uBlock Origin, it is one less thing to update. What do others think?
I think there are some similarities between using the Hosts file and the block-lists used by browser-based ad blockers to block content. Some people use both ...
The HOSTS file approach uses no memory or processing power, and blocks across the entire OS (not just the browser). DNS resolutions are very quick, but the trade-off is that you can't block individual elements (only entire domains) and per-site customization can be difficult. There is also the issue of how often the HOSTS file is updated and the manual installation.
The ad-blocker incorporation approach makes it easier to enable/disable on a per-site basis, but the trade-off is higher memory or processing usage, and you are only blocking things within the browser.
I suppose some decision factors would be how paranoid one is, and what kind of safe computing habits one practices.
-
A timely article at Bleeping Computer for Chrome users: Using the Chrome Task Manager to Find In-Browser Miners (https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/using-the-chrome-task-manager-to-find-in-browser-miners/).
-
See the section "Blocking Bit-Miners from Your Browsers" in Beware of Browser Mining – Win10.Guru (https://win10.guru/beware-of-browser-mining/) which includes a link to a CoinBlocker HOSTS file.
-
Good information in Metallica's article: How to protect your computer from malicious cryptomining (https://blog.malwarebytes.com/101/2018/02/how-to-protect-your-computer-from-malicious-cryptomining/).
-
Might be overkill but I just added the NoCoin list filter to uBlock Origin and felt more comfortable disabling the separate NoCoin add-on. Instructions at https://github.com/hoshsadiq/adblock-nocoin-list/ scroll down to "Ad Blocker"
(https://www.landzdown.com/computer-problems-questions-and-solutions!/crypto-mining/?action=dlattach;attach=7631;image)
-
Not overkill Pete, I use the same list in uBO + Steven Black's list (https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts), which incorporates the CoinBlocker list, in my hosts file. If you temporarily allow all in the browser (uBO), the hosts file still has your back against the bad guys.
-
Thanks Pete! That was an easy way to get protection for this.
-
Thanks Pete! as far as I'm concerned, the more protection, the better.