Employees at a Ukranian Nuclear Plant were recently apprehended for connecting their computers to a nuclear power plant and using its electricity to mine cryptocurrency. The act was discovered when the SBU (Ukranian Secret Service) raided the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant.
According to the Telegraph, the worker who set up the mining equipment was demoted and forced to recompensate the plant for the stolen electricity used for cryptomining. However, the report did not state the compensation amount.
Authorities seized computers fitted with hardware designed specifically for the act. One computer, in particular, was fitted with six AMD Radeon RX 470 graphics cards, while another rig was fitted with five of the same card.
Fortunately for the employees, investigators concluded that neither systems were connected to the plant’s local network. As such, it was deemed that classified data of the nuclear plant was not leaked online. The station’s parent company, EnergoAtom, also acknowledged that while illegal mining activities was discovered, there were no reports of a security breach.
This isn’t the first time a nuclear plant’s amenities has been used for the purpose of mining cryptocurrency. Back in 2018, Russian engineers were arrested for bringing its country’s nuclear weapons supercomputer online to mine cryptocurrency. For context, these supercomputers are never connected to the internet by default; having it connected to the internet simply increases the risk of the supercomputer being subjected to attacks from hackers.
The prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum are understandably volatile, yet it still attracts a vast number of miners. Even more so now, seeing how the price of Bitcoin is now hovering at between RM41000 and RM45000; a first for the coin in several months.
