Avoid getting cryptojacked

If you have followed the news the past year, you will have noticed that cryptocurrencies dominated the zeitgeist of 2017. Suddenly, the term cryptomillionaires was coined for those who were fortunate enough to invest in Bitcoin or other altcoins before they were all the craze. Enormous ROI could be achieved today if you had invested into cryptocoins in the past. Even 50 cent discovered he had a stash of Bitcoins he forgot about, rendering him a cryptomillionaire. However, the rise of cryptocurrencies did not go unnoticed by malicious hackers who also try to profit from the popularity of cryptocurrencies. A new form of malicious attack to look out for in 2018 is cryptojacking.

Cryptojacking is when a website or a malicious app starts using your computer’s resources to mine a cryptocurrency. There are many ways to fall victim to this new scam. The most widespread method is by visiting a website that injects malicious code into your browser, causing it to start mining without your knowledge. The mining may not necessarily halt after you leave the website. Mining a cryptocurrency requires a lot of computational resources, which slows down your computer. So in theory, you should notice that your computer is responding slower than usual. A quick check on your computer resources monitor would show that the CPU is performing a lot of activity. However, cryptojacking has become even more insidious by not maxing out the CPU resources of its host in order to avoid detection.

It is of utmost importance that Internet users are aware of this new type of computer resources hijacking and that it can be prevented. If you are using Chrome, install the No Coin extension that blocks cryptomining. For Firefox users, NoMiner has the same blocking tricks up its sleeve. Be safe and browse the internet safely in 2018 with these cryptomining blockers!