Nizich Shares Expertise on Bitcoin Mining with Newsday

In a video and cover story, Newsday features the expertise of Michael Nizich, Ph.D., ETIC director and adjunct associate professor of computer science, about the mechanics of Bitcoin mining, including how it works and what technology and energy sources are required to conduct it. The coverage about an illegal bitcoin mining operation that ran in Suffolk County offices is part of the paper’s ongoing coverage of the county’s ransomware attack. “You have to have a really good algorithm and a really powerful device — not just a single computer or PC — you have to have a very special device, using what is called an ASIC processor, or you have to have some sort of distributing process level. It wouldn’t be something you’d have usually in your home office,” Nizich explained, regarding how the mining works.