Share this article
Employees blamed for zombie Bitcoin mining
A rogue employee is getting the blame for putting bitcoin mining code onto unsuspecting users’ machines.
By John Oates
Updated Sep 10, 2021, 10:43 a.m. Published May 2, 2013, 10:34 a.m.
A US gaming company is blaming a rogue employee for putting code onto users’ machines which turned them into unwitting Bitcoin miners.
ESEA runs servers for CounterStrike and other games in the US and Europe. It said it was running a very limited test using its client software to include Bitcoin mining. Although it decided not to go through with this dubious move, it said a rogue member of staff secretly sent out the software and was collecting the gains.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
By the time ESEA management realised what was going he had made $3,713.55. The company is giving this amount to the American Cancer Society and matching it with its own funds. It is also adding $3,713.55 to prize money for the season’s League.
In a statement titled ‘Bitcoin fiasco’
, ESEA admitted it had failed its members. It said the furore over Bitcoin led the company to begin testing it on two admin machines in April. On April 13, it killed off the project but an unnamed admin continued running the code for his own benefit.
Just what ESEA thought it was doing even condsidering turning customers’ machines into a zombie network is of course another question...
ESEA is offering customers a free month’s subscription to anyone who had the code on their machine. Anyone worried about damage to their machines is told to open a support ticket.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Bitcoin’s Deep Correction Sets Stage for December Rebound, Says K33 Research
K33 Research says market fear is outweighing fundamentals as bitcoin nears key levels. December could offer an entry point for bold investors.
What to know:
- K33 Research says bitcoin’s steep correction shows signs of bottoming, with December potentially marking a turning point.
- The firm has argued that the market is overreacting to long-term risks while ignoring near-term signals of strength, like low leverage and solid support levels.
- With likely policy shifts ahead and cautious positioning in futures, K33 sees more upside potential than risk of another major collapse.
Top Stories
