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Am I understanding this right, that websites can now run a crypto miner in the background when I visit them?

formerly_proven 5y ago
always has been
wlesieutre 5y ago
Already a thing, it's just been CPU based and now can be GPU based. Firefox (and probably other browsers) have systems to attempt to block them. https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2019/04/09/protections-against-fingerprinting-and-cryptocurrency-mining-available-in-firefox-nightly-and-beta/ https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2019/04/09/protectio... The people sneaking this shit into webpages don't care if it burns $1 of electricity and destroys your battery to generate $0.0000001 of Monero because all of those costs are paid by someone else.
- prox 5y ago
  Is there a toggle extension like I have for JS?
  - autoexec 5y ago
    I'm keeping an eye out too. I've seen a few vulnerabilities mentioned already for this tech. This site (https://hacks.mozilla.org/2020/04/experimental-webgpu-in-firefox/ https://hacks.mozilla.org/2020/04/experimental-webgpu-in-fir...) suggests that setting the options “dom.webgpu.enabled = true” and “gfx.webrender.all = true” to false (where needed) could prevent it from running. I'm also guessing it's use will depend on javascript which I block by default.
brrrrrm 5y ago
If you're using Chrome Canary with the "Unsafe WebGPU" flag turned on, yes. And it'll be a lot faster/more power hungry than before. Otherwise, nothing beyond the normal CPU based miners have been enabled. Adaptation is the cost of progress. Browser vendors will almost certainly implement a way to prevent unauthorized use of such hardware (either by prompt like webcams or automatic detection) before this stuff becomes publicly available.
secondcoming 5y ago
We'll also have to start measuring websites by how much power they consume.
modeless 5y ago
No. Crypto miners have always been possible and WebGPU does not make them faster than they would be in WebGL 2 which has been available for a long time already.
- brrrrrm 5y ago
  I’m not up to date on the latest mining algorithms but is it true that they’re all embarrassingly parallel to the point the WebGPU makes no difference? Fast inter-thread communication is the big addition here.
  - modeless 5y ago
    I guess it depends on the specific cryptocurrency. I don't think the big ones would benefit. Maybe some niche ones could see some kind of benefit, but making mining somewhat more efficient isn't going to change the incentives for drive by miners that much because efficiency doesn't matter when it's someone else's electricity you're wasting.
davemp 5y ago
Yup, though you’ll probably notice your fans spin up (or coil whine if it’s my PC).
account42 5y ago
Browsers really need to put direct GPU access behind a permission prompt, just like they have for webcam or mic access.

always has been

Already a thing, it's just been CPU based and now can be GPU based. Firefox (and probably other browsers) have systems to attempt to block them. https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2019/04/09/protections-against-fingerprinting-and-cryptocurrency-mining-available-in-firefox-nightly-and-beta/ https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2019/04/09/protectio... The people sneaking this shit into webpages don't care if it burns $1 of electricity and destroys your battery to generate $0.0000001 of Monero because all of those costs are paid by someone else.

prox 5y ago
Is there a toggle extension like I have for JS?
- autoexec 5y ago
  I'm keeping an eye out too. I've seen a few vulnerabilities mentioned already for this tech. This site (https://hacks.mozilla.org/2020/04/experimental-webgpu-in-firefox/ https://hacks.mozilla.org/2020/04/experimental-webgpu-in-fir...) suggests that setting the options “dom.webgpu.enabled = true” and “gfx.webrender.all = true” to false (where needed) could prevent it from running. I'm also guessing it's use will depend on javascript which I block by default.

brrrrrm 5y ago

If you're using Chrome Canary with the "Unsafe WebGPU" flag turned on, yes. And it'll be a lot faster/more power hungry than before. Otherwise, nothing beyond the normal CPU based miners have been enabled. Adaptation is the cost of progress. Browser vendors will almost certainly implement a way to prevent unauthorized use of such hardware (either by prompt like webcams or automatic detection) before this stuff becomes publicly available.

secondcoming 5y ago

We'll also have to start measuring websites by how much power they consume.

modeless 5y ago

No. Crypto miners have always been possible and WebGPU does not make them faster than they would be in WebGL 2 which has been available for a long time already.

brrrrrm 5y ago
I’m not up to date on the latest mining algorithms but is it true that they’re all embarrassingly parallel to the point the WebGPU makes no difference? Fast inter-thread communication is the big addition here.
- modeless 5y ago
  I guess it depends on the specific cryptocurrency. I don't think the big ones would benefit. Maybe some niche ones could see some kind of benefit, but making mining somewhat more efficient isn't going to change the incentives for drive by miners that much because efficiency doesn't matter when it's someone else's electricity you're wasting.

davemp 5y ago

Yup, though you’ll probably notice your fans spin up (or coil whine if it’s my PC).

account42 5y ago

Browsers really need to put direct GPU access behind a permission prompt, just like they have for webcam or mic access.