Microsoft is taking stricter measures to increase the stability of its cloud services by imposing new restrictions on activities like cryptocurrency mining. According to The Register on December 15, Microsoft quietly banned crypto mining from its online services to better protect customers.
The tech giant rolled out its new restrictions as part of the general license terms of Microsoft Online Services, updating its accepted use policy on December 1 to clarify that cryptocurrency mining will expressly be prohibited without pre-approval of the company.
This action aims to protect online services from various risks such as cyber fraud, hacking, and unauthorized access to customer resources.
The company stated:
“We made this change to further protect our customers and mitigate the risk of disrupting or impairing services in the Microsoft Cloud.”
Microsoft Online Services is basically Microsoft’s hosted software delivery service and is at the core of the company’s product strategy, including the Microsoft Azure cloud computing network, known as the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform. The platform offers crypto mining on certain subscription types.
Cloud mining is an alternative investment method in crypto that allows users to mine cryptocurrencies without equipment or hardware, relying on a remote data center with powerful resources. shared processing. It can be said that cloud mining is one of the most profitable ways because it does not require users to pay for equipment and related costs.
In fact, Microsoft launched a trial of Azure Blockchain Service in 2019, with Starbucks being one of the well-known companies that have applied this product to supply chain management. However, until September 2022, Microsoft quietly closed this project.
The news came as the cryptocurrency mining industry is going through a major crisis related to the current “winter” in the market, with several industry leaders on the verge of bankruptcy.