Illegal crypto-mining operation discovered at Polish police headquarters

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Polish police have discovered an illegal cryptocurrency mining operation led by a computer scientist at their headquarters in Warsaw.

The civilian employee allegedly used the station’s computers, which he upgraded with specialized software, to mine the cryptocurrency. He also stole electricity from the station for the power-hungry process.

National Police Command (KGP) spokesperson Mariusz Ciarka told Notes from Poland that the employee in question did not access police databases. No violation of the internal police data transmission network was detected.

“The machine he was using was not connected to any database, and the whole case is mainly about the theft of electricity, which is badly needed to mine cryptocurrency,” he said. stated in a written response.

The suspect was “immediately fired” and another employee – whose role in the operation has not been disclosed – is also expected to be fired. The Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office opens an investigation into the operation.

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Crypto mining is a process where computers solve crypto puzzles to validate blockchain transactions and are rewarded with new virtual currencies.

Niebezpiecznik, a Polish security news website, commented on the news, saying that during audits, its experts regularly find employees who “privately” mine cryptocurrencies using the server rooms of the ‘company. These cases almost always lead to the suspect’s dismissal.

A similar operation was discovered in Hungary last October when city officials in Budapest discovered a bitcoin farm in their offices. Also last year, it was discovered that an IT specialist was illegally mining Ethereum, another cryptocurrency, at Lamezia Terme airport in the Calabria region of Italy.

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Main image credit: Jorge Franganillo / Flickr (under CC BY 2.0)

Maria Wilczek is Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Notes from Poland. She writes regularly for The Times, The Economist, and Al Jazeera English, and has also appeared in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator, and Gazeta Wyborcza.

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