Andrey Rybkin, one of the scientists attached to the Russian nuclear station at Sarov has been handed down a jail sentence of 3 years and three months for his involvement in the attempt to mine bitcoins using a supercomputer at the station.

This followed a revelation that he and some workers at the facility tried to mine bitcoin by connecting a supercomputer from the site that was never meant to be linked to the internet.

Rybkin is the first worker to receive jail term with others getting suspended sentences and fines. This was reported by RT, a Russian news portal on October 25.

The media stated that the workers were charged with unauthorized use of computer abilities and received several fines and punishments for their roles. Rybkin was also fined 200,000 rubles ($3,130) in addition to the prison sentence.

A Closed City

Sarov, 370 km from Moscow is a closed city due to the sensitivity of the facility located there. This means that foreigners are barred from it while non-resident Russians must get special permit before allowed to access the city.

Another worker at the site who was also charged with Rybkin was fined 450,000 rubles ($7000) but escaped jail sentence while another received a 4 year suspended sentence.

During the surge in the price of Bitcoin in 2017, several workers with access to computer power at workplace took advantage of them in attempts to generate bitcoins secretly for themselves.

For instance, some police officers attached to a county police IT unit in Ukraine were caught using government computers and electricity to mine bitcoins.