IT guy at Polish police headquarters caught mining Bitcoin in secret

After finding a Bitcoin mining op inside Warsaw's police HQ, officials stressed the culprit was a civilian IT worker and not a police officer.

Warsaw cops have uncovered an illicit Bitcoin mining operation inside the city’s police station.

The culprit, an IT specialist working at Warsaw’s police headquarters, had been stealing city electricity to mine Bitcoin.

They’ve been fired and authorities are investigating an alleged accomplice, relayed the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Officials stressed to local outlet TVN24 that the former employee was a civilian and not a police officer, and said they at no point had access to sensitive data.

Authorities didn’t provide many other details but said the rigs had been uncovered “quite quickly.”

Mining Bitcoin with stolen power, so hot right now

Poland’s relationship with Bitcoin has been mixed.

Crypto is technically legal in the country but the Polish government doesn’t consider it a unit of currency, a method of payment, or even electronic money.

Poland has also historically warned its citizens of potential risks associated with buying crypto.

In 2018, Poland’s Central Bank reportedly paid a popular YouTuber channel to produce videos smearing Bitcoin and depicting various nightmare scenarios fueled by digital currencies.

The IT guy at Warsaw police headquarters likely ran a much smaller Bitcoin mining operation.

In any case, the power theft at Warsaw police HQ is the second of its type to hit public services in eastern Europe in recent weeks.

In late July, a subway worker in the Russian city of Kazan resigned after officials caught them siphoning electricity from its Metro to mine Bitcoin.

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