Firefox now blocks cryptocurrency mining and cookies by default
Firefox now blocks cryptocurrency mining and cookies by default.
Firefox, the desktop and mobile browser created by Mozilla Foundation, a nonprofit organisation, now blocks crypto mining and third-party cookies by default, they said yesterday.
Mozilla introduced the option to block cryptocurrency mining in the Firefox developer browser in April, but the service is now deployed by default.
Cryptocurrency miners are a strain of malware that uses your computing power to mine cryptocurrencies, usually the Monero privacy token.
This practice, called “crypto-jacking”, is particularly popular in web browsers.
The news was announced on the Mozilla blog.
The best-known example is Coinhive, a service that promised to replace banner ads with cryptocurrency miners, but was hijacked by hackers who used the software to extract crypto from users’ browser.
Coinhive was shut down in February but researchers said hackers have since migrated to other similar services…
In addition, the Mozilla feature that blocks cookies from known third-party trackers, known as “Enhanced Tracking Protection”, will be enabled by default for all users.
It will be extended to the remaining 80% of users who have not enabled the feature.
By blocking third-party tracking cookies, Mozilla is doing like Apple’s Safari browser and the Brave privacy browser, which also block third-party tracking cookies by default.
Firefox hopes that this renewed interest in privacy and security can help recover the lost ground for the Google Chrome browser.
According to Statcounter, a website tracking the market share of browsers worldwide, Google Chrome holds more than 63% of the market, representing a 4% increase since August 2018.
At the same time, Firefox lost 0.5% of market share, market share which now represents a small 4.44%.
The fight is tough among web browsers and mobile especially since the arrival of the Brave browser that will pay the internet users to watch ads they want getting paid in BAT tokens.
Read our article about BAT token donations available on Twitter with the Brave browser.