Dropbox, a leading online storage platform, has decided to put an end to its unlimited storage offering due to a rise in resource-intensive activities by users, notably cryptocurrency mining.
In a recent blog post dated August 24, Dropbox revealed that it would replace its “unlimited Advanced plan” with a metered storage offering, providing new users with 15 terabytes of storage, sufficient to house approximately 100 million documents.
Dropbox had always been aware that its “all the space you need” promise could lead to disparate usage patterns. However, the company noted an alarming surge in the recent past, with some users consuming storage that’s “thousands of times more” than their regular business clientele. Other noted misuses of the platform included reselling of its storage capabilities or multiple users combining their storage for personal applications.
This change in policy by Dropbox mirrors similar decisions taken by tech giants Microsoft and Google, both of which have recently discontinued their unlimited storage offerings. Dropbox acknowledged that many of its users would find this change “disappointing.” The company explained that, while it could have produced a list of prohibited use cases, such a list would have been challenging to sustain and enforce.
Cryptojacking, where hackers use malicious software to mine cryptocurrency using the resources of an unsuspecting victim’s device or cloud storage account, has been a rising concern in the digital space. Such malevolent programs take control of device or cloud service resources to initiate a virtual machine tailored for mining digital currencies.
Google, in 2021, highlighted the growing threat of such attacks, stating that some malicious actors targeting its users had been able to compromise an account and set up mining software within a mere 22 seconds.
In conclusion, while cloud storage services like Dropbox offer immense convenience, they’re also becoming targets for innovative misuse, including cryptocurrency mining. The move to limit storage might be seen as a way to mitigate potential misuse and ensure fair use among its vast user base.
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