Man Arrested for Crypto Mining Beneath a School
Former Town Employee, Now a Charged Criminal
In Cohasset middle/high school the town facilitator had found electrical equipment, temporary duct work, and computers seemingly standing out of place while doing a routine check. They quickly determined that it was equipment for mining cryptocurrencies that was connected to the school’s servers. After a three months investigation, the suspicions were directed to Nadeam Nahas who had been working as the assistant facilitator. The former employee of a Massachusetts town was facing charges against fraudulent use of electricity and vandalism to a school. Nahas did not show up to the hearing and the judge quickly went out with a warrant after rejecting to reschedule.
The Basics of Crypto-Mining
Using computing systems to solve mathematical problems in order to validate transactions and add new blocks to a blockchain is the simple meaning of crypto-mining. It usually involves specialized software or mining rigs that are optimized for solving the cryptographic problem that the cryptocurrency network is using. The software will repeatedly perform calculations to find a solution that meets the network’s criteria. And when that happens, it´s rewarded with newly minted coins. Crypto-mining needs a significant amount of energy and power to work properly. If found it would be expensive to operate by yourself. Many join mining pools to collect together in order to collect rewards. It´s a very highly competitive and volatile industry which makes some people go above and beyond by mining cryptocurrencies illegally.
A Near-Perfect Setup
Nahas had stolen over $18 000 for electricity to power up his allegedly crypto mining. Down in the basement near the boiling room, they discovered 11 computers running with wires going everywhere which seemed very odd considering it was below a school. The computers had been running 24/7 which is how Nahas was able to steal so much electricity during his mining period. His little mining operation had been running for about eight months without being noticed and by the time he got caught, he resigned from his job. Nahas’s operation is a perfect example of an illegal crypto-mining activity. His servers were on 24/7 trying to find the perfect calculations while draining the city with electricity.
Worldwide Problem
This is a problem that exists all over the world. Kazakhstan, Malaysia, and Bulgaria are a few countries that have had to deal with crypto-mining for a time now. Usually, power surges are a leading cause of all mining activities. But governments have been very cautious and getting better to put more investments in finding the source of the mining problems.