Search engine giant Google has announced a ban on Chrome extensions that mine cryptocurrency.
In a blog post, the company said that over the past couple of months, there has been a rise in malicious extensions that engage in “cryptojacking” – running hidden cryptocurrency mining scripts in the background without the user’s consent.
The Chrome Web Store policy so far allowed cryptocurrency mining in extensions, provided it was the extension’s single purpose and the users were informed about the mining behavior. However, Google found that nearly 90 percent of all extensions with mining scripts that developers attempted to upload to Chrome Web Store failed to comply with these policies.
“Starting today, Chrome Web Store will no longer accept extensions that mine cryptocurrency,” the post read. “Existing extensions that mine cryptocurrency will be delisted from the Chrome Web Store in late June. Extensions with blockchain-related purposes other than mining will continue to be permitted in the Web Store.”
Last month, Google announced that it will ban online advertisements on cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) from June 2018. Social media giant Facebook also announced similar move earlier this year.
