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I don't understand how posting a "wallet code" is dangerous. Is it mining coins while you are browsing the code? Then it just a minor annoyance. Also, browsers

I don't understand how posting a "wallet code" is dangerous. Is it mining coins while you are browsing the code? Then it just a minor annoyance. Also, browsers should block cryptominers when they are in the background tab.

tannhaeuser 7y ago
Blocking cryptominers or other script isn't possible because of JavaScript's nature as Turing-complete language, much less with new shiny WebWorkers/PWAs. It's also not just a minor annoyance when miners, trackers, and all kinds of other nefarious or just plain garbage scripts drain your batteries and consume power/bandwidth for no other reason than browser vendors being busy to develop webapp platforms and world domination schemes rather than declarative and privacy-focussed content consumption/authoring ... browsers.
- solarkraft 7y ago
  You can detect crypto miners pretty easily by their behavior.
  - oarsinsync 7y ago
    I think Digital Ocean shared your view, until recently, when false positives caused them to shutdown a customer business, and a broken support procedure caused them to keep it down. Search HN archives for Digital Ocean from the last week or two and you should be able to find that story.
paulgb 7y ago
I don’t think it’s mining code, I think it’s wallet addresses posted by scammers. Here’s an example of the scam I think this is intended to curb: https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-staticfiles-25g9k/elon_musk_eth_scam.html https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-staticfiles-25g9k/elon_...
- MasterScrat 7y ago
  I don't understand how someone could be tech-savvy enough to know about ETH and actually own some, while at the same time falling for such scams.
  - 59nadir 7y ago
    I would wager most of the people dealing in crypto currencies are actually precisely the kind of people that would fall for pretty much anything. I don't think it's a stretch to say that the fact that they deal in crypto currencies is actually a pretty good indication that they would.
    - PhasmaFelis 7y ago
      "Dunning-Krugerrands"
    - libria 7y ago
      I think you're conflating categories. Here's what I think: https://i.imgur.com/d4ocNXa.png https://i.imgur.com/d4ocNXa.png That is to say, gullible people are found everywhere but I don't think people inclined to fall for fraud are the same as get-rich-quick tech-heads.
      - trickstra 7y ago
        Responding by a Venn diagram, love it. More to the point - there is a significant number of people who started learning about computer security precisely because they got some cryptocurrencies. And frankly, if someone wants to really understand the details, it's hard to miss all the frequent warnings and examples of scams, hacks, leaks.
  - godzillabrennus 7y ago
    The people speaking at events as experts on crypto mostly don’t know what they are doing.
  - barkingcat 7y ago
jlarocco 7y ago
I don't know the terminology well, but further down in the discussion, it looks like it was some kind of scam rather than "just" mining.

tannhaeuser 7y ago

Blocking cryptominers or other script isn't possible because of JavaScript's nature as Turing-complete language, much less with new shiny WebWorkers/PWAs. It's also not just a minor annoyance when miners, trackers, and all kinds of other nefarious or just plain garbage scripts drain your batteries and consume power/bandwidth for no other reason than browser vendors being busy to develop webapp platforms and world domination schemes rather than declarative and privacy-focussed content consumption/authoring ... browsers.

solarkraft 7y ago
You can detect crypto miners pretty easily by their behavior.
- oarsinsync 7y ago
  I think Digital Ocean shared your view, until recently, when false positives caused them to shutdown a customer business, and a broken support procedure caused them to keep it down. Search HN archives for Digital Ocean from the last week or two and you should be able to find that story.

paulgb 7y ago

I don’t think it’s mining code, I think it’s wallet addresses posted by scammers. Here’s an example of the scam I think this is intended to curb: https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-staticfiles-25g9k/elon_musk_eth_scam.html https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-staticfiles-25g9k/elon_...

MasterScrat 7y ago
I don't understand how someone could be tech-savvy enough to know about ETH and actually own some, while at the same time falling for such scams.
- 59nadir 7y ago
  I would wager most of the people dealing in crypto currencies are actually precisely the kind of people that would fall for pretty much anything. I don't think it's a stretch to say that the fact that they deal in crypto currencies is actually a pretty good indication that they would.
  - PhasmaFelis 7y ago
    "Dunning-Krugerrands"
  - libria 7y ago
    I think you're conflating categories. Here's what I think: https://i.imgur.com/d4ocNXa.png https://i.imgur.com/d4ocNXa.png That is to say, gullible people are found everywhere but I don't think people inclined to fall for fraud are the same as get-rich-quick tech-heads.
    - trickstra 7y ago
      Responding by a Venn diagram, love it. More to the point - there is a significant number of people who started learning about computer security precisely because they got some cryptocurrencies. And frankly, if someone wants to really understand the details, it's hard to miss all the frequent warnings and examples of scams, hacks, leaks.
- godzillabrennus 7y ago
  The people speaking at events as experts on crypto mostly don’t know what they are doing.
- barkingcat 7y ago

jlarocco 7y ago

I don't know the terminology well, but further down in the discussion, it looks like it was some kind of scam rather than "just" mining.