A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty for illegally accessing his former employer’s cloud computing accounts and using them to mine cryptocurrency.
Federal investigators said Armbrust repeatedly accessed the AWS accounts remotely to continue the scheme, leveraging high-powered computing infrastructure without the company’s knowledge. Cryptojacking, the term used to describe this type of cybercrime, allows an unauthorized party to exploit another’s computing power to generate digital currency—typically leading to increased energy usage, diminished system performance and unexpected financial costs for the victim.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office described Armbrust’s actions as a clear misuse of his technical skills for personal profit:
“Cryptojacking is simply high-tech thievery,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick in a statement. “Cybercriminals like Armbrust—who use their technical skills to victimize others—will continue to see federal justice.”
“Cryptojacking is simply high-tech thievery,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick in a statement. “Cybercriminals like Armbrust—who use their technical skills to victimize others—will continue to see federal justice.”
The FBI led the investigation and the case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley M. Endicott. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Digital River announced earlier this year that it would be shutting down its operations and laying off more than 120 employees, beginning at the end of March. The company went public in 1998 and was acquired by Siris Capital Group in 2015 for around $840 million.
