Arkansas law enforcement in Benton County have taken up a bitcoin mining operation in the hopes that they can catch more criminals on the Darknet. The idea behind this operation is simple: mining clean bitcoins will allow them to operate more efficiently on the Darknet and keep to the shadows when targeting criminals.
They plan to focus the operation on criminals involved with distributing and producing child pornography. Also targeted with this bitcoin mining tactic will be criminals that seek out vulnerable users online in order to commit illegal acts such as blackmail, theft of personal information, and financial information like credit card numbers etc.
This proactive operation is receiving plenty of praise from other departments as it is the first of it’s kind. They have cited it’s importance as critical to protecting the public from these kinds of cyber criminals. However, the mining operation in Benton County does not come without risks. The public has claimed that they are worried their county taxes will be affected negatively due to the high cost of this type of technology.
Officials believe it will be worth it, despite the fact that it’s not a sure thing since it’s never been performed before. It has also been noted that sophisticated cyber criminals are sharp enough to notice certain things that may expose the operation such as brand new accounts carrying large amounts of bitcoins that have been newly mined.
In the end, the operation is set to launch as soon as possible. It has the potential to bring all kinds of criminals to justice for their disgusting crimes and the public will benefit highly from getting them off the street and into prison. Hopefully, this new tactic will produce positive results that will lead other police departments to follow suit.
