Microsoft, the US tech giant, reportedly prohibited cryptocurrency mining across its services without an official public notice. The change was described by a publication as a tightening of policy related to how customers may use cloud resources for mining activities.
A concise summary noted that the Acceptable Use Policy now clarifies that neither a customer nor anyone accessing the online service through the customer may issue or mine cryptocurrencies without Microsoft’s prior explicit consent.
Officials suggested that the move aims to shield customers and cloud environments from activities that could destabilize cloud services. A company representative commented to The Register that cryptocurrency mining can cause malfunctions and general disruption to service operations and to users sharing those resources.
The ban reportedly took effect on December 1 of the current year, with emphasis on Azure cloud service users being most affected by the new restriction.
In related news, there were reports of security concerns tied to older software ecosystems. Some developers highlighted multiple vulnerabilities across various programs, noting two highly dangerous zero-day flaws were resolved as part of ongoing maintenance efforts.
This sequence of actions reflects a broader trend in cloud governance, where providers are tightening rules around resource usage, security, and operational stability to protect both customers and infrastructure from unintended consequences and potential abuse. The policy changes underscore the importance of clear guidelines for who can deploy resource-intensive tasks and under what conditions, particularly in shared, multi-tenant cloud environments. The goal is to preserve service reliability while allowing legitimate workloads to run within defined boundaries, avoiding scenarios that could compromise performance or safety across the platform. Industry observers suggest that as cloud ecosystems evolve, such policies will likely become more common, with providers pursuing proactive risk management and transparent communication with users and partners. (The Registry)