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Build a Cryptocurrency Miner in Rust and Run It on Your Browser
See how hackers use WASM for blockchain mining
When I was doing bug bounty, I was always curious about the security of websites that didn’t have extremely high traffic and didn’t have a Bug Bounty Program or Responsible Disclosure Program. I’d often be disappointed: with minimal testing, I usually had a good probability of finding a security issue, at least in one of the app’s functionalities. I should also mention that I was just a decent enough hunter. I couldn’t imagine what good hackers would have been able to find.
This is an important internet problem: websites with decent traffic without solid security. Malicious parties like to take advantage of these kinds of domains. Lately, I’ve seen the news about black-hat hackers exploiting injection vulnerabilities to run their own miners on the website visitor’s browsers.
That immediately caught my attention, so here I am with a hands-on article on mining blockchain from your browser. I believe this article can help the reader to understand blockchain mining basics, some Rust, and the power of WebAssembly.
Simple Mining Overview
Cryptos are known to keep your wallets secure, but what happens if there is no central entity that can determine…