A few days ago NiceHash said to immediately stop using PhoenixMiner because it can be compromised (virus, keylogger, etc). I see that Salad uses PhoenixMiner and would like to have assurances that the PhoenixMiner that is downloaded and installed with Salad is indeed safe.
Just incase no one has heard…
Salad uses the authentic version of Phoenixminer version 5.5c, you can check this post from the developer of PhoenixMiner for more information about the situation: PhoenixMiner 5.5c: fastest Ethereum/Ethash miner with lowest devfee (Win/Linux) (bitcointalk.org)
This was very poor communication from NiceHash. The official PhoenixMiner downloads were pulled from MEGA (the service they were using to distribute the miner). NiceHash very quickly jumped to the conclusion that we all must abandon PhoenixMiner and use their miner instead. Poking and prodding in that reddit thread, you’ll find that the argument against PhoenixMiner is because it’s “closed source” and cannot be audited. Unfortunately, it all comes across as quite disingenuous.
It’s a very serious problem to consider, though. Salad distributes applications to users’ machines, and users trust Salad to protect us. Malicious miners pose a couple problems: It could be a threat to users, their computers, their data, etc… It could also be a threat to other parties, such as a malicious miner that acts like a botnet, attacking other services.
We work hard to remain diligent on this front. We stay connected to the official communication channels for each of the miners and cryptocurrency networks that we run on. We look at messages from others in this space, like the NiceHash example above, and we take a lot of time to review what’s out there. We especially take the time to review and vet any new applications or new versions that we distribute in the app. It’s our goal to maintain your trust, and it’s my hope that we never do anything to bring that into question!
Thank you for the reply. This situation has stirred up a lot of talk for sure and for those new to mining it caused confusion. We are trusting Salad in a big way so I appreciate that Salad is staying on top of it.
Hi @seniorquico. I noticed that Salad just downloaded PhoenixMiner 5.4c. Is there a reason for the downgrade?
Please open a new thread.