An Australian government employee will reportedly face court today over his alleged misuse of government IT systems to mine cryptocurrency for personal gain.
The news was announced by the Australian Federal Police on May 21.
The AFP alleges that the 33-year old man, whose name was not disclosed, used his access as an IT contractor to "Manipulate programs to use the processing power of the agency's computer network for crypto currency mining." The alleged profits from his illicit mining activities reportedly amounted to AU$9,000.
The man's appearance before the Sydney Local Court follows an AFP search operation of his residency in Sydney on March 5, during which officers reportedly seized his personal laptop, personal phone, employee ID cards and data files.
"Unauthorised modification of data to cause impairment, contrary to section 477.2 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 [and] Unauthorised modification of restricted data, contrary to section 478.1 of the Criminal Code Act 1995.".
In a statement, Acting Commander Chris Goldsmid, Manager of Cybercrime Operations, underscored the gravity of the alleged offence by an individual in public office.
"Australian taxpayers put their trust in public officials to perform vital roles for our community with the utmost integrity. Any alleged criminal conduct which betrays this trust for personal gain will be investigated and prosecuted."
The charges carry a maximum sentence of ten and two years imprisonment respectively, the AFP announcement states.
As Cointelegraph reported, police have in the past taken action against suspects accused of stealing electricity from public providers to mine cryptocurrencies for their personal profit - in Germany, Taiwan and China within the past year alone.
In May 2018, Cointelegraph reported that employees of the local headquarters of the National Police in Rivne, Ukraine, were allegedly illicitly mining crypto at work for four months.
Australian Government Employee Faces Court for Misusing Government IT Systems to Mine Crypto
Publié le May 21, 2019
by Cointele | Publié le Coinage
Coinage
Nouvelles récentes
Voir tout
Blockchain Bites: Bitcoin's Run, Uniswap's Hemorrhaging Value, Anchorage's Banking Bid
Bitcoin is nearing all-time highs in price and market cap last set three years ago.
Japan's megabanks to lead experiment with digital yen
We have, in order, Cheese Bank with a $3.3 million theft, Akropolis with its $2 million loss, Value DeFi with a whopping $6 million exploit and finally Origin Protocol's loss of $7 million.
Number of new Bitcoin addresses spikes amid growing FOMO
Japan's three largest banks, as part of a group of 30 private sector actors, are set to collaborate on an experiment with a digital yen.
Not just Wall Street: Quant trader explains why Bitcoin price is going up
Sam Trabucco, a quantitative trader at Alameda Research, believes four general factors are pushing up the price of Bitcoin.