Florida Gov’t Agency Employee Arrested For Mining Crypto Using Dept. Computers

Florida law enforcement has arrested a gov’t agency employee for “official misconduct” after being caught crypto mining on the agency’s computers.

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Florida Gov’t Agency Employee Arrested For Mining Crypto Using Dept. Computers

An IT manager from the state of Florida’s Department of Citrus (FDoC) has been arrested this week for using the FDoC’s computer system to mine for cryptocurrencies, according to a Tampa Bay Times article published March 13.

According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), FDoC employee Matthew McDermott was using computers in the Department of Citrus to mine for cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC).

Crypto mining requires a large amount of electricity, and the utility bills for the Department of Citrus had jumped more than 40 percent from October 2017 to January 2018, around $825.

McDermott has been charged with grand theft and official misconduct and is currently at Polk County jail. The FDLE also noted that McDermott had purchased 24 graphic processing units for over $22,000 using a “state purchasing card” from July to December.

In February of this year, several engineers were arrested at a Russian nuclear power center for attempting to use a supercomputer to mine for Bitcoin.