Russian nuclear weapons scientists arrested for using supercomputer to mine Bitcoins

Computers in nuclear weapons laboratories should generally be used to simulate things like fusion reactions. However, according to CNET media, scientists at the nuclear center of the Russian Federation were arrested for attempting to use supercomputers for encrypted currency transactions. According to a report by the BBC on Friday, scientists at the Russian Federation’s nuclear center were arrested for “an unsanctioned attempt to use computer facilities for private purposes including so-called mining”.

If you own a powerful computer, Mining can be a lucrative business that can yield useful returns early on. However, with the recent decline in the prices of cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, the revenue from “mining” has been drastically affected.

The BBC and Interfax reported that the details of the case were still not disclosed, but local news media said supercomputers were used for the job. For security reasons, the supercomputer should be disconnected from the Internet and mining of scientists was discovered when the computer was connected to the Internet. The Russian Federation Nuclear Center is located in the Sarov area.

Source: CNET