Google Chrome Web Store Bans Cryptocurrency Mining Extensions

[kreslik.news]

The Google Chrome Web Store has outlawed cryptocurrency mining extensions on the platform. They can no longer be uploaded, and extisting extensions will be delisted in due course.

The decision is explained by James Wagner, Extensions Platform Product Manager, in a blog post entitled “Protecting users from extension cryptojacking”.

Wagner says that the platform has noted a marked increase in the number of extensions that have hidden cryptocurrency mining scripts in their code. These mine in the background, unbeknownst to the user. The word ‘cryptojacking’ refers to this activity.

The mining scripts are heavy on the computer, seriously affecting performance and power consuption:

The ... (read more)