according to foreign media reports, local time Monday, Google announced that the Chrome App Store will ban the submission of any Chrome extensions with mining features. In July this year, it will remove Chrome browser extensions with mining features in the current app store.
It has been reported that for about six months, an illegal mining method called cryptojacking has seen explosive growth. Some malware developers have started hijacking user's browsers to mine digital currency.
In theory, cryptojacking can be used for legitimate purposes, such as increasing revenue for publishing platforms or raising funds for charities. In reality, this technology is maliciously implemented, or at the very least, secretly uses the computing resources on the victim device and may interfere with and destroy these target devices. Some malware developers can use the locally installed malware to steal the computing power of the victim's device, embed the mining device directly into the site, lock the target device to a temporary web user without installing anything, or deploy the mining device. Hide in the most harmless applets and tools. Cryptojacking can even invade the computer's critical infrastructure system.
The mainstream malware scanners and ad-blockers have blacklisted these behaviors and are now blocking this behavior in as many forms as possible and as quickly as possible. Google developers engaged in Chrome browser development have been concerned about this issue and have been considering how to deal with the issue. However, Google currently allows Chrome Web App Stores to have extensions with mining capabilities, as long as they are dedicated to mining and explicitly inform users of their capabilities. Despite this, about 90% of mining extension developers submitted content that is not compliant, either being blocked from uploading or being ignored, and then requiring Google to remove it.
Under this strategy, unavoidable mistakes resulted in millions of downloads of mining expansion programs, which eventually led to users acting as free miners without their knowledge.
"The key to maintaining the health extension ecosystem is to maintain the openness and flexibility of the platform. This enables our developers to create innovative and innovative customization capabilities for Chrome browser users," said James Wagner, product manager for Google's expansion platform. (James Wagner) said, "That's why we chose to prohibit the expansion of mining applications until now, and it is clear that the review submitted by most mining extensions is not in line with our strategy or malicious."
The ban probably won't eliminate this problem on its own, because attackers will develop ways to hide the mining capabilities of the extension until they are approved by the Chrome App Store. But this move will make Google's requirements more clear and will examine more closely the possible mining expansion procedures. Wagner said that other types of blockchain extensions will still be allowed.