Former Employee Accused of Illegally Using Company Resources to Mine Cryptocurrency
A former employee from Minnesota, Joshua Paul Armbrust, has been indicted on charges of conducting a “cryptojacking” scheme that took advantage of his previous employer’s computer resources to mine ether (ETH). The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota revealed that Armbrust allegedly accessed Digital River’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) accounts without authorization between December 2020 and May 2021.
Cryptojacking is a cybercrime in which an individual hijacks another person’s computing power to mine digital assets. In this case, Armbrust utilized the company’s resources for unauthorized cryptocurrency mining, resulting in damages totaling more than $45,000. The mined ETH was then transferred to two Coinbase accounts registered under Armbrust’s name and later sold for over $7,000, which he subsequently transferred to his Wells Fargo account.
The FBI conducted the investigation, leading to Armbrust’s arrest. He now faces one charge of computer fraud and appeared in court on November 1, 2024. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley M. Endicott is prosecuting the case.
This incident serves as a reminder of the risks associated with insider threats and the need for companies to implement robust security measures to protect their computing resources from unauthorized access and exploitation.