Google Bans Crypto-Currency Mining Extensions From Chrome Store
Google is making it harder for cyber-criminals to use Chrome browser extensions for crypto-currency mining.
Effective immediately Google will no longer allow developers to upload crypto-currency mining browser extensions to the Chrome Web Store.
Extensions with crypto-currency mining functions that are already in Chrome store will be delisted sometime in late June. The company will however continue to permit extensions designed for blockchain-related purposes that do not involving mining in the web store.
James Wagner, product manager for Google Extensions Platform described the company's decision as stemming from security concerns. "Over the past few months, there has been a rise in malicious extensions that appear to provide useful functionality on the surface, while embedding hidden crypto-currency mining scripts that run in the background without the user’s consent," Wagner wrote in a blog April 2.
