Russian Secret Services reported in 2018 that they had arrested employees of the country’s leading nuclear research lab on suspicion of using a powerful supercomputer for bitcoin mining. Authorities discovered that scientists had abused their access to some of Russia’s most powerful supercomputers by rigging up a secret bitcoin-mining data center.
Bitcoin mining is extremely resource-intensive and some miners are always seeking new ways to outsource the expense onto other people’s infrastructure. This case is an example of how insiders can misuse company equipment.
