Microsoft has announced a ban on the use of its cloud services for mining unless there is written permission

CTOnews.com, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) Microsoft has quietly banned the use of its online services to mine cryptocurrencies, saying it is doing so to protect customers who use its cloud services.

Microsoft added the ban to the update of its general license terms for online services that came into effect on December 1, covering several of the company's online services, mainly Azure cloud computing services.

The summary of Microsoft's changes to the license states that "the acceptable use policy has been updated to clarify that the mining of cryptocurrencies is prohibited without Microsoft's prior approval". The section entitled "acceptable use Policy" states: "customers or people who access online services through customers are not allowed to use online services to mine cryptocurrencies without Microsoft's prior written approval."

Microsoft told The Register that the change was made because "cryptocurrency mining can cause interference or even damage to online services and their users, and may often be related to online fraud and abuse attacks, such as unauthorized access to and use of customer resources". Microsoft added: "We made this change to further protect our customers and to reduce the risk of service disruption or damage in Microsoft's cloud."

If used for security testing and research, it is possible to obtain written approval from Microsoft to use its online service for cryptocurrency mining.

CTOnews.com learned that Microsoft is not the only company that forbids unauthorized use of cloud services for cryptocurrency mining. Google, Amazon and Oracle have all banned cloud mining.