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Opera Introduces Crypcurrency Mining Protection To Its Mobile Browsers

With the value of cryptocurrencies skyrocketing, the trend has attracted many bad actors that take advantages of the situation.

It's not uncommon for websites to include scripts, whether they are for features, ads, trackers or others. But with cryptocurrencies getting popular, many websites have included scripts to hijack visitors' CPU resources to mine cryptocurrencies.

Opera has added cryptocurrency mining protections to its desktop web browser earlier in January 2018. While cyptojacking is not usually as noticeable on desktop computers, thanks to their multitasking prowess and a relatively larger amount of resources, but on smartphones, things can be worse.

After several tests, developers at Opera determined that scripts mining for cryptocurrencies can increase the smartphones’ CPU usage up to 100 percent. This can cause increased battery draining and make the phone overheat. What's worse, there is also an Android malware that mine cryptocurrency by hijacking smartphones' resources so bad that permanent damage has been observed.

This is why Opera is launching a similar cryptojacking protection to its Opera Mini and Mobile web browser.

According to Opera:

"Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, have become a hot topic and, with their surge in value, so has the mining for new coins, known as cryptocurrency mining. While some use their own data centers, many web developers are increasingly using people’s computers and smartphones for this - often without their consent. The phenomenon is estimated to be affecting more than a billion people worldwide, causing their devices to run warm, become slower and eat up their batteries."

"When you browse the web, there are no visual clues that your device is exposed to mining," said Jan Standal, VP Product Marketing at Opera. "A single webpage you visit can take up to 4.5 hours of your battery time, if you keep the tab open. This often turns out to be just the battery time you needed to use a ride-hailing app or check the map to get home."

"The anti-cryptocurrency mining feature is activated by default when you enable the ad blocker on Opera Mini (iOS and Android) or Opera for Android. The ad blocker can be enabled by going to 'settings', and it will automatically detect and stop the mining scripts written into the code of a webpage."

Opera estimates that more than a billion devices worldwide are slowed down by website-based cryptocurrency miners that hijack visitors' CPU power. On the other side of the browsing experience, the company believes there are more than 3 million websites on the internet that have embedded cryptocurrency miners.

Notorious ones include The Pirate Bay that had integrated a browser mining service, provided by Coinhive, into its website. The script used visitors’ CPU power to mine Monero without their knowledge.

It was later found that other sites, whether by choice or through hacks, were also using this mining technique, including some popular streaming websites.

Published: 
23/01/2018