In September, authorities were alerted to the presence of a massive cryptomining setup concealed beneath the floors and within ventilation ducts of a Polish court, as reported by TVN24. The illicit rig, connected to its own modems rather than the court's network, housed secured computers believed to be pilfering thousands of Polish Zlotys worth of energy monthly (equivalent to approximately $250 per 1,000 Zlotys).
The duration of the covert operation remains unknown, given its successful evasion of detection. Although no charges have been filed, the court took swift action within two weeks of the discovery, terminating a contract with an IT maintenance company. This move coincided with the dismissal of two employees allegedly responsible for maintaining the areas housing the clandestine cryptomine.
The Internal Security Agency, Poland's premier law enforcement entity, is now spearheading the investigation, with the Warsaw District Prosecutor's Office enlisting IT experts to assess the extent of the stolen electricity from the Supreme Administrative Court in Warsaw.
Despite the severity of the breach, there is assurance that sensitive data within the court, the final arbiter in critical business and tax disputes, remains uncompromised. Judge Sylwester Marciniak, the Chairman of the Judicial Information Department, affirmed to TVN24 that the cryptomine's discovery posed no threat to stored data security.
This incident is not isolated, as nefarious actors have previously targeted public institutions for electricity theft to fuel cryptocurrency mining. TVN24 experts note that such miners often deploy illegal rigs in inconspicuous locations or operate during off-hours when targeted institutions are typically closed.
Drawing parallels, a similar case unfolded in the United States earlier this year. A cryptomine, powered by 11 computers operational around the clock for at least eight months, was discovered in the basement crawl space of a Massachusetts high school. The Department of Homeland Security investigated for three months, accusing the former assistant facilities director, Nadeam Nahas, of vandalizing the school and stealing over $17,492 in electricity for the cryptomine. Nahas resigned in 2022 and, as of June 2023, has pleaded not guilty.
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