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Computers used to mine cryptocurrencies stolen from data centers in Iceland

20 points by kimsk112 9y ago

tomglynch 9y ago
Usually criminals need to sell the goods they steal, now they can just use the goods. Is this a new type of crime?
- meowface 9y ago
  These computers are worth millions, so it's possible they could try to sell them.
  - tomglynch 9y ago
    The computers are worth $3m. I'd gauge they could generate that amount of bitcoin within 18 months? This also brings an interesting thought - will it be harder to track down those running a hydroponic lab in the future, with many houses using huge amounts of electricity on mining?
    - spondyl 9y ago
      It's also a bet on whether Bitcoin will stay afloat for the next 18 months
- sillysaurus3 9y ago
  In the days of slavery, it was pretty common to steal others' slaves and then use them.
d357r0y3r 9y ago
Iceland isn't very big and it's completely isolated. Did they plan to get those 600 computers off the island, or did they expect to keep them there and not get caught?
- sillysaurus3 9y ago
  And you might even be able to track them down by measuring the power usage. 600 computers surely pull a measurable amount of electricity, so if you graph the power usage across the entire country and look for anomalies you might be able to spot when and where they come online. It would depend how much noise is in the graph, and how much energy 600 computers use relative to the total energy usage of various parts of the grid. If they went to a major city, probably not. But perhaps the usage in a smaller town would show up as a spike. I'm really curious whether this would work. Kind of a creepy thought. Hard to escape the eyes of modern technology. On the other hand, they thought about every aspect of this heist, so maybe they're going to power the computers with gasoline generators. It's hard to know what to be paranoid about when thinking deviously.
  - gomox 9y ago
    Assuming they're Antminer S9s they consume around 1 kW each, 600 kW is usually a non negligible amount of electricity to have available. But, interestingly, Iceland also has a lot of artificially lit/heated greenhouses that can be seen from very far away. Those probably take a lot of power as well. Electricity is insanely cheap there because of geothermal generation. Private generation is a thing there as well, IIRC.

20 points by kimsk112 9y ago

tomglynch 9y ago

Usually criminals need to sell the goods they steal, now they can just use the goods. Is this a new type of crime?

meowface 9y ago
These computers are worth millions, so it's possible they could try to sell them.
- tomglynch 9y ago
  The computers are worth $3m. I'd gauge they could generate that amount of bitcoin within 18 months? This also brings an interesting thought - will it be harder to track down those running a hydroponic lab in the future, with many houses using huge amounts of electricity on mining?
  - spondyl 9y ago
    It's also a bet on whether Bitcoin will stay afloat for the next 18 months
sillysaurus3 9y ago
In the days of slavery, it was pretty common to steal others' slaves and then use them.

d357r0y3r 9y ago

Iceland isn't very big and it's completely isolated. Did they plan to get those 600 computers off the island, or did they expect to keep them there and not get caught?

sillysaurus3 9y ago
And you might even be able to track them down by measuring the power usage. 600 computers surely pull a measurable amount of electricity, so if you graph the power usage across the entire country and look for anomalies you might be able to spot when and where they come online. It would depend how much noise is in the graph, and how much energy 600 computers use relative to the total energy usage of various parts of the grid. If they went to a major city, probably not. But perhaps the usage in a smaller town would show up as a spike. I'm really curious whether this would work. Kind of a creepy thought. Hard to escape the eyes of modern technology. On the other hand, they thought about every aspect of this heist, so maybe they're going to power the computers with gasoline generators. It's hard to know what to be paranoid about when thinking deviously.
- gomox 9y ago
  Assuming they're Antminer S9s they consume around 1 kW each, 600 kW is usually a non negligible amount of electricity to have available. But, interestingly, Iceland also has a lot of artificially lit/heated greenhouses that can be seen from very far away. Those probably take a lot of power as well. Electricity is insanely cheap there because of geothermal generation. Private generation is a thing there as well, IIRC.