Coin-hive problem

[clemenzina]

EDGE BROWSER, Windows10

I have to use www.refreshthing.com to auto-refresh Edge (no extension available), which is the only browser that will allow me to download a certain stream from nest.com via www.starrranch.org/blog - if you can see it, it's the Trail cam. bottom left.

(I hope you get the picture!)

As of a couple of weeks ago the site is "infected" with coin-hive, which Malwarebytes is blocking (see attached).

When I close the popup it is immediately replaced by a variant of same, ad infinitum.

Is there any way I can use RefreshThing while MB continues to block coin-hive but without notifying me?  I can find no alternative.

Many thanks if you can help, and many thanks just for trying to follow the intro

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2017 by clemenzina
Multiple errors!

[Aura]

Hi clemenzina

My name is Aura and I'll be assisting you with your malware issue. Since we'll be working together, you can call me Aura or Yoan, which is my real name, it's up to you! Now that we've broke the ice, I'll just ask you a few things during the time we'll be working together to clean your system and get it back to an operational state.

• As you'll notice, the logs we are asking for here are quite lenghty, so it's normal for me to not reply exactly after you post them. This is because I need some time to analyse them and then act accordingly. However, I'll always reply within 24 hours, 48 hours at most if something unexpected happens
• As long as I'm assisting you on Malwarebytes Forums, in this thread, I'll ask you to not seek assistance anywhere else for any issue related to the system we are working on. If you have an issue, question, etc. about your computer, please ask it in this thread and I'll assist you
• The same principle applies to any modifications you make to your system, I would like you to ask me before you do any manipulations that aren't in the instructions I posted. This is to ensure that we are operating in sync and I know exactly what's happening on your system
• If you aren't sure about an instruction I'm giving you, ask me about it. This is to ensure that the clean-up process goes without any issue. I'll answer you and even give you more precise instructions/explanations if you need. There's no shame in asking questions here, better be safe than sorry!
• If you don't reply to your thread within 3 days, I'll bump this thread to let you know that I'm waiting for you. If you don't reply after 5 days, it'll be closed. If you return after that period, you can send me a PM to get it unlocked and we'll continue where we left off;
• Since malware can work quickly, we want to get rid of them as fast as we can, before they make unknown changes to the system. This being said, I would appreciate if you could reply to this thread within 24 hours of me posting. This way, we'll have a good clean-up rhythm and the chances of complications will be reduced
• I'm against any form of pirated, illegal and counterfeit software and material. So if you have any installed on your system, I'll ask you to uninstall them right now. You don't have to tell me if you indeed had some or not, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Plus, this would be against Malwarebytes Forums's rules
• In the end, you are the one asking for assistance here. So if you wish to go a different way during the clean-up, like format and reinstall Windows, you are free to do so. I would appreciate you to let me know about it first, and if you need, I can also assist you in the process
• I would appreciate if you were to stay with me until the end, which means, until I declare your system clean. Just because your system isn't behaving weirdly anymore, or is running better than before, it doesn't mean that the infection is completely gone
  This being said, I have a full time job so sometimes it'll take longer for me to reply to you. Don't worry, you'll be my first priority as soon as I get home and have time to look at your thread
  

This being said, it's time to clean-up some malware, so let's get started, shall we?

Follow the instructions in the thread below, and provide me both FRST logs (FRST.txt and Addition.txt). You can attach them in your next post, or copy/paste their content.

https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/9573-im-infected-what-do-i-do-now/

[clemenzina]

Hello Aura, I thought my post had been deleted (had I broken the rules, shock-horror?!) so I am relieved and grateful to find your reply.

Please forgive me if I don't complete your instructions before replying now, and if I seem tech-ignorant, which I am, fairly.

I do not believe that I am infected, but that www.refreshthing.com is utilising "coin-hive", possibly as described in this GHacks article.

I tried to follow the GHacks instructions to block coin-hive in Edge's AdBlockPlus extension, but it didn't work.

MalwareBytesPro (purchased many years ago and kept updated, now on 3.2.2) is protecting me, but I cannot continue to use refreshthing.com because of the constant popups notifying me that coin-hive is being blocked.

If only I could use Firefox to download the "Trail cam" on the StarrRanch website, NoScript would block coin-hive (snap attached), but Edge is the only browser I have found that will allow the download.  However the StarrRanch site needs to be frequently refreshed because if the cam drops out my download will stop and not recover until a browser refresh.  I record this cam 24/7 via download with Jaksta Media Recorder.

Therefore... I would love dear MalwareBytes to continue to protect me unobtrusively in the background.  That's if you conclude that I am indeed "not infected".  Otherwise I shall have to find time (difficult) to follow all your instructions

I attach an up-to-date MB scan.

clemenzina

 

 

 

 

 

Log post-coin-hive.txt

[Aura]

The chances of you being infected are low. However, there are some extensions that comes bundled with the CoinHive miner, hence why I asked for a set of FRST logs, to check the installations you're using and see if one of them is.

As for your query, it is possible to disable the Web block notifications in Malwarebytes, but keep the protection active. Open Malwarebytes, go in the Settings tab, and under the Application tab, disable the Show Malwarebytes notifications in the Windows System Tray setting. Be aware that this will disable ALL kind of notifications (Malware, Web, Exploit and Ransom).

[clemenzina]

Thank you, Aura.

I don't think that an extension would be a culprit, as I only had AdBlockPlus in Edge, and now that's gone and I can't reinstall it because MS Store thinks I'm offline

I've also got SuperAntiSpywarePro (inferior to MB, IMHO) and CryptoPrevent, so I'll set a restore point, disable MB notifications, and proceed with caution.

Incidentally, I wonder if I could have been being "used" by coin-hive before MB incorporated protection?  It may account for some mysteriously high CPU usage.

Thank you again,

clemenzina

 

 

[Aura]

If you use NoScript, then it should've prevented the mining script from running, assuming you block these by default on every websites you visit. If not, then yes, your web browser might have been used to mine cryptocurrency via CoinHive before you installed and enabled Malwarebytes' protection.

[Aura]

Hi clemenzina,

Are you still with me?

[Aura]

Due to the lack of feedback this topic is closed to prevent others from posting here. If you need this topic reopened, please send a Private Message to any one of the moderating team members. Please include a link to this thread with your request. This applies only to the originator of this thread.Other members who need assistance please start your own topic in a new thread. Thanks!