{"id":351108,"date":"2021-10-11T06:56:50","date_gmt":"2021-10-11T03:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/nuclear-engineer-sells-classified-data-to-undercover-fbi-agents-for-crypto\/"},"modified":"2021-10-11T06:56:50","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T03:56:50","slug":"nuclear-engineer-sells-classified-data-to-undercover-fbi-agents-for-crypto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nuclear-engineer-sells-classified-data-to-undercover-fbi-agents-for-crypto\/","title":{"rendered":"# Nuclear engineer sells classified data to undercover FBI agents for crypto"},"content":{"rendered":"

“# Nuclear engineer sells classified data to undercover FBI agents for crypto <\/strong>”
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A nuclear engineer and his wife have been arrested in West Virginia on charges of espionage and selling restricted data.<\/p>\n

The couple sold classified information regarding the designs of nuclear-powered warships to an individual they believed to represent a foreign nation for almost a year. However, the contact was an undercover FBI agent who sent payments for the data in cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n

Jonathan and Diana Toebbe were app<\/a>rehended by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) on Saturday, Oct. 9. They will appear in federal court on Tuesday, Oct. 12. According to a statement<\/a> from Attorney General<\/a> Merrick B. Garland:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe complaint charges a plot to transmit information relating to the design of our nuclear submarines to a foreign nation.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jonathan Toebbe served as a nuclear engineer assigned to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program and held active national security clearance through the U.S. Department of Defense.<\/p>\n

In April 2020, the FBI became suspicious of Toebbe after spotting that he sent a package containing sample data and instructions on how to establish covert communications and purchase more information.<\/p>\n

In June of this year, an undercover agent sent $10,000 in an unspecified cryptocurrency to Toebbe as \u201cgood faith\u201d payment after receiving some sample data. The couple used a \u201cdead drop\u201d to hide an SD card containing more information inside half a peanut butter sandwich for which the agent paid a further $20,000 in crypto for the decryption keys.<\/p>\n

A second dead drop saw the FBI pay a further $70,000 worth of crypto to Toebbe in exchange for further data on U.S. nuclear submarines. The FBI nabbed the couple after a third drop was organized. <\/p>\n

Related:<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>Blockchain could become a part of the US military\u2019s strategic weaponry<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The incident is not the first time U.S. federal agencies have used cryptocurrency as part of investigations targeting criminal activity.<\/p>\n

In August, the U.S. State Department began offering compensation in the form of cryptocurrency through its \u201crewards for Justice\u201d website in exchange for\u00a0information leading to the capture of high-ranking foreign terrorism suspects.<\/p>\n