Malwarebytes flagging CE application?

Viktor L ID: 3171 Posts: 4
10 Aug 2013 07:45 AM

I have been running Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, and it keeps flagging a certain file,  ProgramData/BOINC/slots/6/ce2.exe. Is this a false positive? It flags it as a Trojan.Bitcoinminer. 

J
Jo1252 ID: 1311 Posts: 81
10 Aug 2013 04:26 PM

False positive, but I also noticed CE2.exe was a bitcoin miner.

It is connecting to mining pools (50btc.com) and brings some bitcoin to the operators of charityengine. A way among others to get some cash. I thought though that Charityengine would use my computer for scientific work and not for mining...

Viktor L ID: 3171 Posts: 4
10 Aug 2013 08:04 PM

Hmmm...if that's the case, I am not sure how I feel about that. Has this been disclosed anywhere? 

J
Jo1252 ID: 1311 Posts: 81
11 Aug 2013 01:06 AM

My firewall indicates traffic to 50btc.com, unless it is contacting the website to make sure it is alive. I found nothing about it on the website. Maybe someone from the project can tell us more.

Viktor L ID: 3171 Posts: 4
11 Aug 2013 01:14 AM

I certainly hope they can. If someone doesn't reply to this thread by tomorrow, I will email them or something. 

J
Jo1252 ID: 1311 Posts: 81
11 Aug 2013 05:18 AM

It's the weekend, they probably won't answer.

I know they wanted to use GPU, they announced it earlier in the community pages. Maybe are they rolling out some mining WUs to test how it goes, however it's only my guess.

Mark McA ID: 179 Posts: 224
11 Aug 2013 01:32 PM

Hi Viktor, Jo,

It is indeed a false positive. Will be whitelisted soon.

The mining app is only using the grid's leftovers, by the way. There are several science apps either running or in testing now; a molecular modelling one for computational drug design, an extreme climate event simulator, etc. But none of them use 100% of the grid 100% of the time, so that takes up the slack. 

Remember; the whole point of CE is that it turns surplus computing into real money, which then enables the prize draws and donations (charities can't use the computing, they need cash). It won't always be amazing science, sometimes it will be the most boring and mundane commercial work you can imagine.

But that's okay, because any CE task still raises money for the same good causes. All has the same result in the end.

Cheers,

Mark

PS. Weekends? What are they...? ;)