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Firefox, the popular Web browser, will soon start to automatically block cryptographic malware scripts as part of a larger drive that improves performance.
The Mozilla Foundation, the non-profit organization behind the open source browser, announced Thursday that it intends to block trackers and other "malicious practices" in future releases.
Some of these features, like the anti-tracking feature, are already available in Firefox's Nightly beta version.
The goal is to prevent third-party scripts from hindering the user's experience, according to Mozilla's vice president of product Moz Nguyen. These scripts are generally embedded in Web sites and can requisite the computing power of a user without their knowledge.
Scripts that hijack the unused computer power of an individual to extract cryptocurrencies also fall into this category.
"Misleading practices that collect identifiable user information or degrade the user experience become more and more common," Nguyen wrote, adding:
"For example, some tracker fingerprint users – a technique that allows them to invisibly identify users based on the properties of the device and which users are not able to control. The other sites have distributed cryptographic scripts that silently undermine the cryptocurrencies on the user's device. more hostile to be. Future versions of Firefox will block these practices by default. "
The Firefox Nightly version will be used to test the functionality of new features. And if successful, users can start seeing them enabled by default in the version of Firefox 63.
Mozilla joins other browser developers, including Opera and Google, in an effort to protect its users from harmful miners , which can slow down the user experience in the best and damage their computers in the worst case.
Opera announced in January that it was underway the protection of miners for the smartphone version of its browser, which would also be active by default. The company has already offered cryptominer protection on its desktop version.
Google, meanwhile, has banned any cryptographic app from its Play Store, although it has not issued any official statement regarding automatic blocking of scripts embedded in websites.
Image of Firefox via Faizal Ramli / Shutterstock
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