Aussie Bitcoin Miner Retrofits Government Computers, Faces 10 Years in Prison
By CCN: A man from Sydney, Australia will appear in court on Tuesday after turning a government computer into a bitcoin mining rig. He allegedly mined $9,000 worth of cryptocurrency on the modified machine.
The 33-year old IT contractor allegedly tweaked the federal government computers to optimize them for bitcoin mining. If found guilty, he faces a maximum of ten years in prison.
Mining bitcoin at work
In the months previous, police raided the man’s house, confiscating a laptop, smartphone, employee ID cards, and various computer files. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) say he took advantage of his trusted position and manipulated federal resources.
“[He] abused his position as an IT contractor to manipulate program to use the processing power of the agency’s computer network for cryptocurrency mining.” – AFP
Bitcoin mining is big business again at a time when the value of cryptocurrencies are hitting 2019 highs.
Mining bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies requires large amounts of electricity and processing power. By using government resources, the man likely jacked up the agency’s energy bills and slowed down other computers on the network.
Not the first time this has happened
In March 2018, two employees of the Bureau of Meteorology allegedly used federal computers to mine crypto.
