Norton Crypto announced: mines Ethereum on your PC with Norton 360

Well, we're living in a world where anti-virus software is now automatically mining cryptocurrency in the background of your PC -- with the Norton 360 security suite to soon mine cryptocurrency Ethereum for you.

Norton 360 is being updated with a new tool called Norton Crypto, which will let you mine Ethereum and make money from your PC. Vincent Pilette, CEO of NortonLifeLock explains: "As the crypto economy continues to become a more important part of our customers' lives, we want to empower them to mine cryptocurrency with Norton, a brand they trust. Norton Crypto is yet another innovative example of how we are expanding our Cyber Safety platform to protect our customers' ever-evolving digital lives".

When you've got Norton Crypto enabled and mining, it will mine Ethereum (ETH) when your PC is idle... so if you're using the PC it'll be yours -- but when it's idle, it will mine crypto. You'll be able to track your crypto mining earnings, and even move your cryptocurrency into the Norton Crypto Wallet which is stored in the cloud.

• Read more: Ethereum will soon be 7000x more energy efficient than Bitcoin

I'm two minds about Norton Crypto... first, crypto mining profits have tanked in the last few weeks along with the price of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and many others. Secondly, Ethereum mining will soon be going away as we shift to proof of stake for Ethereum.