Google Chrome browser extension responsible for cryptojacking has been removed

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A popular Google Chrome extension called Archive Poster is reported to be misbehaving recently. Over 105,000 users of this extension have reported that it has turned into an in-browser cryptocurrency miner in the recent weeks.

 
Google Chrome extension responsible for cryptojacking has been removed

The users have reported that this extension is not asking permission to hijack the CPU of the computers in order to mine Monero cryptocurrency. Monero is the cryptocurrency that many nefarious users are opting to mine with the stolen processing power of the computer users who are unaware of cryptojacking. The process of secretly mining cryptocurrencies using the resources of others is known as cryptojacking. A few days back Facebook Messenger was also attacked with Digimine malware to mine Monero.

 

After the reports regarding the Archive Poster Chrome extension started making rounds on the internet via Bleeping Computer, Google Chrome has taken down the extension that is reported to be secretly mining the cryptocurrency. The actual purpose of this extension is to let the Tumblr users reblog, queue, draft and like posts directly from another blog's archive.

In the review section of the extension, users came up with negative reviews following the inclusion of the infamous Coinhive in-browser miner's JavaScript code in the extension. Notably, Coinhive is the same miner that The Pirate Bay used to mine cryptocurrency via user's resources.

It is said that the extension did not ask for the consent of the users before running the code and continued cryptojacking until the browser was open. A user who is affected by cryptojacking has to uninstall the extension or close the website during the process in order to stop it as there is no other way to do it.

After the Archive Poster extension was taken down, another one called '[SAFE] Archive Poster' has emerged. There is no information on how this one works so its reliability remains questionable for now.

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