Former Employee's Hidden Code Turns Workplace Into Crypto Mine

A Minnesota man, Joshua Paul Armbrust, 44, has been indicted for a “cryptojacking” scheme that exploited his former employer’s computing resources to mine ether (ETH), causing over $45,000 in damages, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. Armbrust, who resigned from his job at Digital River, allegedly accessed the company’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) accounts without permission from December 2020 to May 2021, using its resources for unauthorized cryptocurrency mining. The mined ETH was funneled to two Coinbase accounts under his name and later sold for over $7,000, which he transferred to his Wells Fargo account. Cryptojacking is a cybercrime where an individual hijacks another’s computing power to mine digital assets, often leading to significant operational costs for the victim. Armbrust faces one count of computer fraud and appeared in court on November 1, 2024. The FBI conducted the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley M. Endicott prosecuting the case.