Crypto Jacking is the technique of using the computing power of someone's device for mining crypto currencies, without the permission of that person. It is very common these days and very profitable for the miners to use the technique, on popular pages.
The malicious Javascript is usually added to a webpage and when a user visits that page, the malicious script uses the computing power of that device to mine crypto currencies for the miner. Whenever a block is mined, the miner gets the cryptocurrency as a reward. Crypto Jacking hence allows the mining software to run in the visitor's browser, without his/her authorisation to do so.
Unlike other types of attacks, Crypto jacking does not involve any stealing of data or destruction of any information. It is used for illegal or unauthorized usage of the computing power of a visitor's device only. However, this may slow down the device or even result in over heating of the device or sudden shutdown.
How to avoid/prevent Crypto Jacking :
- Use Antivirus (updated) or anti malware softwares
- Disable any malicious extensions in your browser
- you can also use Ad-blocker
- Use "Blocker" extension in your browser
Comments from @pqbd. Thanks for your inputs.
"To really attempt to get on the right track:
- Install uBlock Origin if you haven't. Not necessary per se but it's the best adblocker out there IMO.
- Add this into 3rd party filter list of your adblocker: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hoshsadiq/adblock-nocoin-list/master/nocoin.txt
- Most adblockers allow you to add custom filters.
- Keep updating the filters from time to time.
Note that this doesn't guarantee that you will never be crypto jacked. They can simply change the cdns and js file names. "