TL;DR Breakdown:
- Polish police have uncovered an illegal Bitcoin mine hidden in their own department.
- The civilian perpetrator has been fired, and the police will dismiss one other person involved in the illegal activity.
A police department in Poland has busted an illegal Bitcoin mine secretly situated in their own headquarter, according to unofficial information shared by TVN24. It turns out that the perpetrator was an IT specialist working on a civilian job with the law enforcement agency.
Poland police unearth illegal Bitcoin mine
The IT specialist reportedly used the department’s connection and electricity to power the illegal Bitcoin mine, according to TVN24, which cited two other unofficial sources to substantiate the information. This eventually alerted the authorities, given that Bitcoin mining requires a significant amount of electricity.
The IT specialist was reportedly fired soon after the illegal Bitcoin mine was uncovered, and the authorities are also looking to dismiss one more person who’s involved in the operation.
Some worry that law enforcement databases may have leaked as a result of the incident. However, the authorities denied this, saying that the database is intact and that there was no trace of internet connection to the Police Data Transmission Network. A spokesman for the police, Insp. Mariusz Ciarka, confirmed this.
Ciarka further affirmed that the case has been transferred to the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw.
Crackdown on illegal mining activities
Law enforcement authorities in several regions have been actively policing and cracking down on illegal Bitcoin mines. However, the development today is probably the first time an illegal mining operation was caught in a police department. Mining requires an extensive amount of energy, which is why many authorities do not condone it; needless to say, the mines which were set up illegally.
Earlier this month, the Ukrainian government busted what seems to be the largest illegal mining farms in the country, confiscating more than 7,000 crypto mining machines. Last year, the Chinese authorities seized illegal Bitcoin machines and arrested about 22 suspects, Cryptopolitan reported.
