Bitcoin Mining Puts Nuclear Plant at Risk?

I read an interesting article in Forbes about a potential nuclear plant security breach caused by bitcoin mining.  Someone apparently set up shop in the power plant and in the process, potentially leaked classified information.  My immediate question was, how can this possibly happen?

How Bitcoin Mining May Have Created a Potential Security Breach

I suppose this is what happens when you don’t keep a close eye on your employees!  Several employees (the exact number has not been disclosed) set up what amounts to a bitcoin mining lab in the heart of the power plant, the second-largest nuke in South Ukraine.  Apparently, this lab was fully functional for quite some time.

In July 2019, Ukrainian law officials raided the plant and seized all the elements you would need to create a cryptocurrency mining center – including 7 computers, 16 video cards, 2 hard drives, routers, fiber-optic wires and network cables, among other items.  As of the time of this writing, it is not clear what triggered the raid.

So, what was it about the bitcoin mining operation that placed the plant’s security at risk?  Believe it or not, it’s as simple as the internet connection.  A computer got hacked, plain and simple. 

The part of the article that does not sit well with me is how the bitcoin mining activity was able to go undetected for what investigators estimate to be several months.  That is really poor oversight if you ask me.  I would think that in a nuclear power plant, all online connections would be monitored for unusual activity.  It boggles the mind that this was not done, especially considering how easy it is to do, and considering that nuclear plants are prime targets for terrorism or other malicious cyber-acts. 

The lesson learned here is to make sure your cybersecurity plan includes even the most basic of security measures – especially when a nuclear reactor is involved!