An engineer took advantage of his position to profit from virtual currency, constituting the crime of illegally obtaining data from a computer information system, and was sentenced to 3 and a half years in prison

ChainCatcher news, according to Workers' Daily reports, the People's Court of Changping District, Beijing recently released a case where an employee used their position to obtain virtual currency for profit, constituting the crime of illegally obtaining data from a computer information system. Zhang, a blockchain engineer at a certain internet company, learned that there was a large amount of Ethereum in the account while participating in project development, and planned to attack the company's account to obtain it.

Taking advantage of his work, he asked colleagues for program codes and private keys beyond his authority and shared them in a "technical exchange group," inviting group members to crack and attack the company's account, successfully obtaining 106.15 Ethereum and illegally profiting 38,329.76 yuan.

The court found that Zhang violated regulations by illegally obtaining Ethereum information from the company's computer system and trading for profit, constituting the crime of illegally obtaining data from a computer information system. Although there were management loopholes in the company, this was not a valid excuse for Zhang's crime. Ultimately, Zhang was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison, fined 60,000 yuan, and ordered to return the illegal gains of 38,329.76 yuan. The second-instance ruling rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment.