New York City Employee Disciplined For Mining Bitcoin at Work

[n691309]

https://news.bitcoin.com/new-york-city-employee-disciplined-for-mining-bitcoin-at-work/

A New York City employee was recently caught mining bitcoin at work, which stemmed from a 2014 incident. Vladimir Ilyayev is a worker for the city’s department of education. He admitted to bypassing work security and mining bitcoin on the job without the proper permissions. The City of New York Conflicts of Interest Board disciplines him as a result of the action.

The case report summarized Ilyayev’s admissions: “I ran bitcoin mining software on my New York City Employee Disciplined For Mining Bitcoin at WorkDOE computer from 6:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. every night from March 19, 2014, until April 17, 2014….During that time, I monitored the progress of my bitcoin mining software from my home computer using remote access software.”

Furthermore, Ilyayev admitted to installing the equipment during work and profiting from the mining activity when he was supposed to be working. His code of conduct for employment states he was not supposed to be engaging in any kind of personal finance transactions while working. He also admitted to the dates that he began installing the mining software without permission from the DOE.

Sanctions against Ilyayev; Bitcoin Mining at Work
After the board investigated the case, they decided to punish Ilyayev financially. According to the report, for misusing City time and engaging in profit making activity, Ilyayev had to forfeit 4 days of leave. This totals out to about $611. The employee agreed with the punishment and signed off on it.

Other news sources reported this kind of bitcoin mining by DOE employees has happened before. There was an incident back in 2015 with a DOE network engineer. This kind of “wrongful” bitcoin or cryptocurrency mining is somewhat attractive, and may continue into the future.

As some would say “If I was his boss at work, this guy is really going to be fired. He was wrong, he left the job he's supposed to do for his country, and was busy mining bitcoin”...but may looking at the case, maybe this guy wasn't paid enough monthly salary. Maybe he had lots of problems that his monthly salary can't solve. Or maybe he's a greedy a-hole. We don't know his condition… So don't judge.

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[aTriz]

LOL, the desktop at work are super slow and I'm guessing he didn't actually make that much. At least he didn't have to pay electricity costs, but just seems useless to me. If I was his boss i would probably fire him in a second, but he may have a bad wage and you can't blame him for wanting to earn more.

[xJuturna]

Guess he was trying to take advantage of not having to pay the electric bill where he mined. Imagine if he actually did end up mining a good bit, how much money he actually earned mining on the job. I wonder if the risk was worth the reward. Wonder what the guy is up to now, hopefully mining legit

[CARrency]

https://news.bitcoin.com/new-york-city-employee-disciplined-for-mining-bitcoin-at-work/

A New York City employee was recently caught mining bitcoin at work, which stemmed from a 2014 incident. Vladimir Ilyayev is a worker for the city’s department of education. He admitted to bypassing work security and mining bitcoin on the job without the proper permissions. The City of New York Conflicts of Interest Board disciplines him as a result of the action.

The case report summarized Ilyayev’s admissions: “I ran bitcoin mining software on my New York City Employee Disciplined For Mining Bitcoin at WorkDOE computer from 6:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. every night from March 19, 2014, until April 17, 2014….During that time, I monitored the progress of my bitcoin mining software from my home computer using remote access software.”

Furthermore, Ilyayev admitted to installing the equipment during work and profiting from the mining activity when he was supposed to be working. His code of conduct for employment states he was not supposed to be engaging in any kind of personal finance transactions while working. He also admitted to the dates that he began installing the mining software without permission from the DOE.

Sanctions against Ilyayev; Bitcoin Mining at Work
After the board investigated the case, they decided to punish Ilyayev financially. According to the report, for misusing City time and engaging in profit making activity, Ilyayev had to forfeit 4 days of leave. This totals out to about $611. The employee agreed with the punishment and signed off on it.

Other news sources reported this kind of bitcoin mining by DOE employees has happened before. There was an incident back in 2015 with a DOE network engineer. This kind of “wrongful” bitcoin or cryptocurrency mining is somewhat attractive, and may continue into the future.

I don't think it is that profitable using those softwares to mine bitcoin. GPU mining is long dead but still used by some people that can't afford a good mining hardware. Still, I think if I am using a computer in my work I will do the same. I mean we don't need to rely wholely in our job, we must find some ways to earn more though the side job he made is on the rules.

[chixka000]

This is really unethical doing. I really don't like the idea of getting payed by your work but you are doing other source of income. This is what should a bitcoin user or miner have to understand. They should separate bitcoin activities from their actual work.

[skyline247]

  This reminds me of the story about the guy who used his work (or school's?) super computer to mine Dogecoin a few years back when it was actually worth something. It went viral.
  The guy got caught and I don't remember if he was punished, but imagine how much he made. lol

[bit-freedom]

The punishment of 4 leaves which amount to $611 is lenient. I wonder whether he is able to earn $611 mining for 12 hours a day in one month, considering the cost of the equipment too. Or did he use the computer provided at work?

[Junko]

Wow, the guy got off pretty easy. He must have had some friends or connections in higher positions. What he did amounts to stealing and that seems easily like grounds for being fired from his job at the very least. So he keeps his job and whatever amount of bitcoins he made which in a few years could dwarf the $611 dollars he was made to pay.

[Aur3]

Did anyone noticed how low the sanction is? Only $611? If he has gotten away using the PC for mining in 2014 then he could probably get around $1000 back then?

Furthermore, Ilyayev admitted to installing the equipment during work and profiting from the mining activity when he was supposed to be working.

I think that alone should be enough to put harsher punishment with this guy. Or even must be terminated for using the PC for his own purpose and profiting from it.

I'm surprised too. He was punished for $611 only. It's clear he goes beyond the rules. First, he used the office property for bitcoin mining, which is an unacceptable activity during working hours. Second, he's also used the internet, which is supposed to be used for work purposes only. It seems $611 was a light punishment unless of course if he's the office owner or one of the investors for their product.

There's nothing wrong with bitcoin mining but do it at home. It's not an office activity.

[Sir Cross]

It was rude of him to mine Bitcoin while he was at work, and used the office equipment and internet, most of all their elctricity. I would have posed a higher penalty on him if I were his boss though. I have no problem with bitcoin mining but this should not have been mixed with his work, he could have done this at home. This is an abuse of his office and is very unethical as an employee.