For years, Dropbox has promised its users unlimited storage capacity, allowing customers to back up and store countless files in the cloud without worrying about going over their data limits. But now, Dropbox is saying it will no longer offer storage options with unlimited capacity after it discovered crypto miners have been taking advantage of its generous policies.
Cryptocurrency miners flood networks with their requests when they want to add blocks to blockchain networks. Dropbox has been dealing with an influx of miners taking up too much of the company’s available resources. In response, the cloud storage company has, starting from March, limited new updates to 3GB for free users, and 1TB for paid members.
Dropbox’s development team initially thought miners were accessing its platform through bots or malicious software, and found that its systems were being drained from requests for data storage. Crypto miners were particularly drawn to Dropbox’s unlimited storage capacity and were taking advantage of the service with automated programs.
Dropbox has also implemented a specific terms of service for miners, regulating future aspects such as access to storage and security. To avoid acessive and extensive draining of user’s resources, the company also intends to limit how many miners are accessing the service. New account holders will receive smaller free limits compared to existing users.
The move by Dropbox will be a blow to those users who had depended on its generous storage plans. However, the cloud storage company intends to ensure that its resources are no longer exploited in this manner. As of now, it unclear how the move to limit storage will affect existing users. It is likely that those with larger amounts of already-stored data will need to purchase additional storage if they want to continue backing up files to the cloud.
Overall, Dropbox’s decision to limit storage capacity is understandable given the strain crypto miners have put on its resources. It is certainly a bitter pill to swallow for those who had relied on the company’s generous policies, but hopefully the security measures implemented will secure a more stable environment for users.
