Cryptocurrency Mining – Prevents websites from mining Bitcoin on Android, iOS, and the web

There are many websites that use the hardware of your phones and computers to mine cryptocurrency, which in turn could be very damaging to your devices. The worst part here is that there is no easy way to find out which website is malicious and which is not, as many of them do not inform you that they use your device to mine cryptocurrency.

Instead, all it requires is a few lines of Javascript code running in the background as you browse the web and then you may experience slow speeds on your system, reduced battery life, and significant damage to overall component life. Don’t worry though, we’ve got you covered. Follow this guide to prevent websites from using your phone or computer hardware to mine cryptocurrency.

Block cryptocurrency mining: via browser extensions

If you are on desktop and use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Opera or Safari, you can install Adblock Plus (Google Chrome | Mozilla Firefox | Microsoft Edge | Opera | Safari), which makes it quite easy to block script coin mining. AdBlock Plus prevents coin mining websites from running scripts on your browser.

Other than that, you might also try using the Ghostery extension (Google Chrome | Mozilla Firefox | Microsoft Edge | Opera | Safari), which also blocks some of these scripts. If you notice that your browser is not blocking any particular coin mining scripts, you can email Ghostery and add it to the database.

Block cryptocurrency mining: via antivirus app

Most antivirus software now blocks cryptocurrency mining scripts. The only problem is that this feature may not be available in the free tier and you may have to pay for them. Malwarebytes is one of several antivirus apps that allow you to block cryptocurrency mining scripts on Windows and Mac, and the advantage of this approach is that it blocks these scripts throughout the system, so you don’t need to enable it individually in browsers and apps.

Stop cryptocurrency mining – on iPhone and iPad

These cryptocurrency mining websites can be easily blocked on iOS as long as you are using Safari, Firefox or Opera. There are two ways to do this on Safari: disable Javascript or use a content blocking app like 1Blocker. Here’s how to disable Javascript on Safari for iOS.

1. Go to settings > Safari.
2. Tap Advanced > disable Javascript.

Be aware that this will break many websites and you may not be able to read or watch material online like you did before. Websites might look like they were designed in 1995, with too much text, non-functional buttons, and missing images or videos, which is far from an ideal scenario these days. Using a content blocking app is a much better approach. Follow these steps to use 1Blocker in Safari.

1. Install 1Blocker.
2. Go to settings > Safari > Block content and enable 1Blocker.
3. 1Blocker lets you enable any filter for free, so open 1Blocker and enable Block Tracker to block coin mining sites.

At the moment, we couldn’t find a way to block these scripts in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers on iOS. However, if you are using Opera Touch or Mozilla Firefox, you can enable the built-in settings to block ads and crypto mining. Follow these steps to stop cryptocurrency mining in Opera Touch.

1. Open Opera Touch> tap the file the browser icon.
2. Tap settings > enable Ad blocking > enable Protection from cryptocurrency mining.

Follow these steps to stop cryptocurrency mining in Mozilla Firefox.

1. Open Firefox> tap the file Hamburger icon> go to settings.
2. To select Tracking protection > enable Advanced Tracking Protection > set the security level to Strict.

Stop cryptocurrency mining – on Android

On Android, it is quite simple to block cryptocurrency mining scripts on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera. Follow these steps to block cryptocurrency mining scripts on Chrome.

1. Click the three points top right> settings > Site settings.
2. Now touch Javascript and disable it.
3. If you want to enable Javascript on specific sites, tap Add site exceptions and manually add the URLs of the sites where you want to allow Javascript.

Follow these steps to block cryptocurrency mining scripts on Firefox.

1. Click the three points and go to settings.
2. Under Privacy and security, tap Advanced Tracking Protection.
3. To enable Advanced Tracking Protection and set the security level to Strict.

Follow these steps to block cryptocurrency mining scripts on Edge.

1. Click the three points > settings > Block content.
2. To enable Block ads for Adblock Plus.

Follow these steps to block cryptocurrency mining scripts on Opera.

1. Click the the browser icon > settings > enable Ad blocking.

This will block all cryptocurrency mining scripts on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera for Android.

This should protect you from cryptocurrency mining on the internet. What method do you use to protect yourself from this? Let us know via the comments. For more tutorials, visit our How To section.

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