Protect Yourself From Cryptojacking With Opera Ad Blocker
The rise of cryptocurrencies has made many people wealthy , but it has also helped create a new generation of hackers and fraudsters who choose to take advantage of this technology.
One scam to look out for in 2018 is cryptojacking , where a website or public Wi-Fi hijacks your computer to mine cryptocurrency in the background. A single computer running the mining software can’t do much, but an entire network of devices on the Internet is quickly piling up.
It may sound like a strange joke, but cryptojacking can harm your computer or mobile device . The malicious program uses so much energy that it can overload the processor, plus some hacker slows down your computer and takes profits for himself. Fortunately, there is a fairly simple solution: just use a browser that blocks the hijacking of cryptojacking software.
Earlier this month, Opera added cryptojacking protection to its ad blocker on its desktop browser . As long as ad blocking is enabled, you will be safe from this cryptocurrency scam. On January 22, the company extended this feature to its Opera Mini app for Android and iOS , as well as the regular Opera browser for Android.
If you don’t feel like switching to Opera, you can also find third-party extensions for Chrome and Firefox that do the same. The only difference is that the Opera version is built into the ad blocker, so more people will use it even if they don’t understand why they need it.
Opera also has an advertising website where you can find out if you are at risk of being a victim of cryptojacking, but all it does is confirm that you have a blocker running. If you are concerned that you are already being targeted by cryptojacking software, it is best to check how heavily your processor is being used. If usage spikes when you go to a particular website, you should probably avoid revisiting it until you have some protection in place.