2y ago

Massive cryptomining rig discovered under Polish court’s floor, stealing power

arstechnica.com

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2y ago

Massive cryptomining rig discovered under Polish court’s floor, stealing power

arstechnica.com /tech-policy/2023/11/secret-cryptomining-rig-found-hidden-in-the-floors-of-a-polish-court/

39 comments

I was going to ask if these things are even profitable anymore, but I guess if you're stealing the electricity it is.
- Yeah but if their hardware is now confiscated, does it still pay off? How long do you need to mine until the hardware is paid for, assuming free electricity?
  
  Bold of you to assume the hardware wasn't also stolen
At least they had heated floors for a little while. Fancy.
- I suddenly want to build a crypto mining rig in my encapsulated crawl space.
I wonder how much pollution has been created for crypto.
- Per Wikipedia:
  As of 2022, bitcoin mining is estimated to be responsible for 0.1% of world greenhouse gas emissions.
  Their source: https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/2022/a-deep-dive-into-bitcoins-environmental-impact/
  That's just bitcoin, I don't know how that translates into all cryptos.
  Now that's still a decent chunk but not really a blip on the breakdown chart: https://ourworldindata.org/ghg-emissions-by-sector
  For example, landfills generate almost 2%.
  
  Wow imagine two different kinds of garbage having such a different impact on the climate
- A lot, but the solution exists, and it doesn't require getting rid of crypto coins, it's called proof-of-stake. Then maybe people can stop building stupid mining rigs ...
This feels like it should be satire.
- Oh boy... so there's this thing called a stock photo and...
  
  deleted
  
  !veryrealtechpics@lemmy.world
It's not any court. It's a Supreme Administrative Court - highest court instance in Poland dealing with crimes of administration
kurwa
This is the best summary I could come up with:
It's currently unknown how long the rig was running because the illegal operation went undetected, partly because the computers used were connected to the Internet through their own modems rather than through the court's network.
The Supreme Administrative Court is the last resort for sensitive business and tax disputes, but no records seem to have been compromised.
Judge Sylwester Marciniak—the chairman of the Judicial Information Department of the Supreme Administrative Court—told TVN24 that the discovery of the cryptomine "did not result in any threat to the security of data stored" in the court.
The Department of Homeland Security investigated for three months, and a former employee who had been serving as assistant facilities director for the town, Nadeam Nahas, was accused of vandalizing the school and stealing at least $17,492 in electricity to operate the cryptomine.
According to Boston news station WHDH, police traced SKU numbers on ductwork that Nahas allegedly installed to keep the rig from overheating.
Nahas reportedly got "nervous" when confronted with evidence allegedly showing that he purchased the materials from Home Depot, as well as his posts on the social platform formerly known as Twitter, which cops found indicated his strong interest in cryptocurrency.
The original article contains 532 words, the summary contains 198 words. Saved 63%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

39 comments