Crypto Mining

[JDBush61]

Corrine, thank you so much!

[Corrine]

You're welcome, John.

[ky331]

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.

[Corrine]

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?

[ky331]

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.

[satrow]

There's a thread recently started on the Pale Moon forum: Crypto-mining Blocker, which already links to info for Firefox and other browsers and hosts file blocking.

[Corrine]

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.

[winchester73]

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.

[Corrine]

A timely article at Bleeping Computer for Chrome users:  Using the Chrome Task Manager to Find In-Browser Miners.

[Corrine]

See the section "Blocking Bit-Miners from Your Browsers" in Beware of Browser Mining – Win10.Guru which includes a link to a CoinBlocker HOSTS file.

[Corrine]

Good information in Metallica's article:  How to protect your computer from malicious cryptomining.

[Pete!]

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"

[satrow]

Not overkill Pete, I use the same list in uBO + Steven Black's list, 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.

[pastywhitegurl]

Thanks Pete!   That was an easy way to get protection for this.

[plodr]

Thanks Pete! as far as I'm concerned, the more protection, the better.