Within its Azure cloud services, Microsoft has taken the very covert step of formally prohibiting the practice of cryptocurrency mining.
An change to Microsoft’s Universal License Terms for Online Services, which primarily pertains to the company’s cloud platform, specifies that “mine cryptocurrency is illegal without prior clearance from Microsoft.” (Opens in new tab)
The post goes on to explain that those looking to use the company’s services for cryptomining are required to obtain written approval, and it clarifies that “neither customer, nor those that access an online service through customer” are permitted to use them for this purpose. This is because “neither customer, nor those that access an online service through customer” are allowed to do so.
Dangers of mining
Under the description “Important measures partners need to take to safeguard the partner ecosystem,” the updated policy was also published in the Azure Solution Area of the Microsoft Partner Community portal, which opens in a new tab.
It was included in the list of improvements that were supposed to “minimize possible fraud harm to your customers’ subscriptions” here. Again, it emphasized the need of “formal pre-approval… issued by Microsoft” to authorize the usage of its servers for the source of the digital tokens. This was done in order to comply with the terms of the license agreement.
Microsoft is worried about the potential harm that these kinds of operations might have to its infrastructure. The tech giant provided this response in response to a question posed by The Register (opens in a new tab): “mining for cryptocurrencies can cause disruption or even impairment to online services and its users.” The company went on to say that cryptocurrency mining “can often be linked to cyber fraud and abuse attacks such as unauthorized access to and use of customer resources.”
Nevertheless, they did include the stipulation that cryptomining “may be considered for testing and research for security detections.”
On its cloud services, Microsoft isn’t the only company to place restrictions on cryptomining. Amazon Web Services is the only cloud provider that enables it, but only inside its premium subscription levels. Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, and OHVcloud all prohibit it from using their services.
Mining has been outlawed on Microsoft’s free tier for some time now, but the company has just recently expanded this prohibition to include its paid-for choices as well.
