[2018-03-14] Florida State Employee Arrested for Allegedly Mining Crypto at Work

[Morenod]

A state employee at Florida's Department of Citrus (FDoC) has been arrested for allegedly using official computers to mine cryptocurrencies.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has jailed Matthew McDermott, IT manager for the state government agency that oversees Florida's citrus industry. He is reportedly being held pending trial, with bail set at $5,000.

The FDLE alleges that McDermott used computers in the department to mine cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and litecoin, and has charged him with grand theft and official misconduct, according to the report.

https://www.coindesk.com/florida-state-employee-arrested-for-allegedly-mining-crypto-at-work/

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[1Referee]

What a joker. If you're that dumb, you deserve to be held responsible for such actions. Not only did he increase the power bill considerably, but that fool also bought $22,000 worth of GPU's at cost of his employer. Unlawful usage of resources mostly a serious offence, and especially so within a government department. I can somewhat see the irony in people mining from universities or their daily jobs, but also committing theft is something that goes far beyond the irony aspect, and for that reason he should be punished accordingly. I wonder what they did or will do with the GPU's. If they can't return them for a full refund, that dude will surely end up paying the difference. I remember once that I tried to return a GPU bought brand new a week before attempting to return it, and the store was only willing to take it back for 50% of the initial purchasing amount. I later sold it locally, because losing 50% is too much of a hit.

[RamonBTC]

Dumb it is. Crypto mining using a workplace by an employee without the permission of the owner and same scenario as the scientist using nuclear facility for mining is arrested. They are really not thinking about consequences like this. Why not build your own and bring mining into your basements. This are the examples of educated man with small brains.

[jjacob]

A state employee at Florida's Department of Citrus (FDoC) has been arrested for allegedly using official computers to mine cryptocurrencies.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has jailed Matthew McDermott, IT manager for the state government agency that oversees Florida's citrus industry. He is reportedly being held pending trial, with bail set at $5,000.

The FDLE alleges that McDermott used computers in the department to mine cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and litecoin, and has charged him with grand theft and official misconduct, according to the report.

https://www.coindesk.com/florida-state-employee-arrested-for-allegedly-mining-crypto-at-work/

The article doesn't say how much the employee made through mining, but I suspect it won't be much. He spent $22,000 on buying GPUs on his office account, increased the electricity bill by 40% and I suspect he has made pennies. People have been getting caught trying to mine cryptocurrencies in their office from 2014 onwards and this dumbskull tries it in 2017-18, when it is not even that profitable.

[Sir Cross]

What a joker. If you're that dumb, you deserve to be held responsible for such actions. Not only did he increase the power bill considerably, but that fool also bought $22,000 worth of GPU's at cost of his employer. Unlawful usage of resources mostly a serious offence, and especially so within a government department. I can somewhat see the irony in people mining from universities or their daily jobs, but also committing theft is something that goes far beyond the irony aspect, and for that reason he should be punished accordingly. I wonder what they did or will do with the GPU's. If they can't return them for a full refund, that dude will surely end up paying the difference. I remember once that I tried to return a GPU bought brand new a week before attempting to return it, and the store was only willing to take it back for 50% of the initial purchasing amount. I later sold it locally, because losing 50% is too much of a hit.

The employer should be entitled to the proceeds of the mining since it was bought at the cost of the employer, if any. Whatever fruits the employee has gained from the GPUs he bought should become property of the employer because of his unlawful usage, how little it may be. The employee should be liable for any damages caused since he has used up the electricity of is department. The Department may choose to sell the GPUs to recover the unlawful cost of the employee. Of course a used GPU would have a lesser value but it may help them recover even just a portion of their lost.

[BitHodler]

The article doesn't say how much the employee made through mining, but I suspect it won't be much. He spent $22,000 on buying GPUs on his office account, increased the electricity bill by 40% and I suspect he has made pennies. People have been getting caught trying to mine cryptocurrencies in their office from 2014 onwards and this dumbskull tries it in 2017-18, when it is not even that profitable.

It doesn't even matter how much he made. I even doubt the state department knows how much has been made. The only thing that interests them is the damage they had to swallow because of this idiot.

Is he that underpaid to do such a thing, or is it his mental weakness having made him do this. I believe it may very well be a combination of both. And yes, this specific case isn't anything new.

The one case that grabbed my attention, was how Russian nuclear scientists have been trying to mine Bitcoin with the super computers that weren't even meant to be connected to the internet. It's almost unreal.

[SGMPhil]

Kinda makes one wonder how many computer geeks have slipped an Antimer or some other hardware into the back of a rack in commercial/government computer rooms or "upgraded" computers with high powered GPUs and mining other the expense of their employers and/or the taxpayer. I can only imagine what is going on in university data centers.

[HereisTommy]

That's so damn stupid... oh my god
I heard that a similar situation happened in Russia

[VasilyVIP]

That's funny ahahah
Hope that guy will be fine
Nevertheless it was stupid

[cynical]

Dangerous thing to be doing, im sure any company with a half decent IT department would figure this out.
Its tempting though, free electricity is a very lucrative aspect of mining.
Im sure there are a lot of people taking advantage of 'free electricity' 

[TrumpD]

LOL... At least he was smart enough to use the disguise as being the IT manager to install the GPU. I wonder what reason he gave the company that they needed to install the GPUs...

[ThePunisher49X]

There was also a government agent who got caught using the employers computers to mine bitcoin back in the day and he just got caught last year.
So it just took the current investigators a few years to caught on what they were up to.