Iceland’s local news source Visir reported earlier in the week that Icelandic information technology service Advania gave a confirmation using their security footage that officials have taken the right two men in custody for the three burglaries which happened at data centers in Iceland last December and January, local news outlet Visir reported Feb. 21.
Visir had earlier reported that a total of three burglaries happened from a span of December 5th, 2017 to January 2018 items stolen in this burglary involved 600 graphics cards, 100 power supplies, 100 motherboards, 100 memory discs, and 100 CPU processors they were allegedly stolen from a house in the municipality of Reykjanesbær.
The burglars were also reported to have broken into the data centers of the municipality of Borgarbyggð, a total of 600 PCs were rumored to be stolen from both places.
Advania revealed that the thieves managed to break into a new building which was under construction in Reykjanesbær somewhere around mid-January, but that the building was luckily well-covered with security cameras covering each angle
In an exclusive interview with Visir, Advania revealed that what was stolen was “not a device that stores data and there was only a financial loss,” they further added that due to the ongoing investigation they could not specify what kind of equipment was stolen during the heist.
Due to their naturally cold climate and access to renewable sources of energy Iceland as a country has become one of the ideal destinations for cryptocurrency miners. Many of Advania’s data centers are specifically designed for Bitcoin (BTC) mining. Thus this news sends shockwaves down the spine of the entire Cryptocurrency society.
As per reports from local news outlet Ruv, police have been keeping a close check on the energy consumption for abnormal increases after the theft, for the stolen computer equipment reportedly can be used to mine BTC, an energy-heavy process. However, it remains a mystery whether the stolen equipment still remains in Iceland or no; Reports by Ruv also suggest that the two men currently in custody are not willing to cooperate with the police.
As reports suggest The total amount stolen from all three burglaries amounts somewhere near 200 million krónur, or $1,990,000.
CEO of Advania Data Centers, Eyjólfur Magnús Kristinsson, gave a statement saying Advania lost almost a quarter or a fifth of that total value in this burglary