Two Canadians face U.S. charges for crypto mining hack
4.4 Security Two Canadians are charged with hacking U.S. university supercomputers to mine cryptocurrency, causing over $5,000 in damages. One has been extradited; both face up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
Two Canadian men, Ryan James Roach and Mathiew James Stubbings, have been indicted in the United States for allegedly hacking university supercomputers between June 2016 and December 2019 to mine cryptocurrency. According to the indictment, they accessed protected systems at universities in New York, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Massachusetts, using stolen credentials and deploying malware to exploit computing resources for Electroneum mining. The pair allegedly concealed their activities by using foreign virtual private servers and false registrations. Prosecutors report that at least ten systems were damaged, resulting in losses exceeding $5,000. Roach has been extradited to the U.S. and pleaded not guilty, while extradition proceedings for Stubbings continue in Canada. The charges include conspiracy, credential theft, and intentional damage to protected computers, each carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, have highlighted the case as part of ongoing efforts to combat cybercrime in the cryptocurrency sector.
