Internal French Police Officer Apprehended for Selling State Secrets for Bitcoin
A security officer belonging to the French Intelligence Agency – General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) was arrested last week for selling state secrets on the Dark Web in exchange for bitcoin, reported Le Parisien on October 1, 2018.
What Went Down?
The acts of the unidentified agents were first brought to light by the judicial police and then transferred to the DGSI, who further carried the investigation. The intelligence agencies investigating officers tracked the leak of files using unique assigned to each officer.
Each internal officer has a unique code or passkey through which they can connect to their office computer and perform consultations. The local report added that “the process can trace the origin of file queries in real time or a delayed manner.”
Le Monde reports that following the arrest of the delinquent, the official agency which has been designated to oversee ‘irregular immigration’ have dismantled the criminal network with whom the accused was suspected to be working with.
According to people familiar with the matter, the agent had allegedly made contact with individual members of the organized crime world and people that specialize in economic intelligence, who were said to be interested in obtaining such sensitive data. However, so far, there has been no links to terrorism.
Wrongdoers Pay the Price at the End
Data files within the French intelligence agency can be classified as either ‘confidential defense’ or ‘secret defense.’ The penalty of leaking such sensitive data that that requires the highest level of security clearance can result in a penalty of seven years’ imprisonment and the fine levied can be nearly EUR 100,000 ($115,000), quoted on The Next Web.
Meanwhile, with the rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies among offenders, security officials around the world have been concerned. Cryptocurrencies have offered an opportunity for wrongdoers to hide their ill-gained money easily.
Earlier this year, a Chief Scientific Officer of an India crypto exchange Coinsecure was accused of misemployed his position to steal Bitcoins worth $3.4 million. In another similar case, a maintenance engineer in Beijing-based tech company misused his position to defraud 100 bitcoins from the company. However, after losing ten bitcoins to a scam, the offender sought to return the remaining 90 bitcoins.
Are cryptocurrencies sheltering illegal activities? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
