One of the challenges facing the best anti-virus software is preventing protected systems from being hijacked to secretly mine cryptocurrencies. Therefore, Norton Lifelock's addition of a cryptocurrency mining tool to the Norton 360 security suite is both ironic and sensible, depending on your point of view. It may be both.

I certainly did not see this coming. The tool is called Norton Crypto and is distributed to a limited number of Norton 360 users who participate in Norton's Early Adopter Program, which allows users to mine Ethereum with it. But why? [Vincent Pillette, CEO of Norton Lifelock, stated. "As the crypto economy continues to become a more important part of our customers' lives, we want to empower them to mine cryptocurrency with a brand they trust, Norton. Norton Crypto is another innovative example of how we are expanding our cyber-safety platform to protect our customers' evolving digital lives."

The past few weeks have been wildly volatile in the crypto space. One might say this is normal, as cryptocurrencies are prone to wild swings in value. Most recently, however, China's crackdown on cryptocurrencies has rocked the market, causing Ethereum, Bitcoin, and other digital assets to plummet.

In addition, Ethereum will soon move to a more power-efficient proof-of-stake model, which could effectively kill off graphics card mining. In turn, this could also limit the usefulness of things like Norton cryptos, regardless of their value.

Be that as it may, it appears that the tool exists and will be offered to all Norton 360 customers at some point. At this time, only Ethereum mining is possible. This built-in tool allows users to track their earnings and deposit them into a Norton crypto wallet stored in the cloud.

Turning on the tool will, at least in theory, only mine ethereum when the PC is idle (I have not tested this because I do not have access to the tool.) According to the screenshot shared by NortonLifeLock, there is a pause button.

Hard to imagine this being a popular feature. The profitability of ethereum mining was cut in half earlier this year (in late February and early March), and the recent decline has made it even less profitable, especially for those holding onto older GPUs. Then there is the question of how well the built-in tools work.

On the flip side, the built-in tools should make it easier for casual users to jump into mining if they want to, and I hope NortonLifeLock makes it clear to users that their electricity bills will jump and their GPU hardware may wear out further. We hope.