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IT Pro Gets Prison Time For Sabotaging Ex-Employer's System

Posted by Soulskill on from the fractions-of-a-penny dept.

itwbennett writes: "In June 2012, Ricky Joe Mitchell of Charleston, West Virginia, found out he was going to be fired from oil and gas company EnerVest and in response he decided to reset the company's servers to their original factory settings. He also disabled cooling equipment for EnerVest's systems and disabled a data-replication process. After pleading guilty in January, Mitchell has been sentenced to four years in federal prison."

22 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. Duh... by TJ_Phazerhacki · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The point at which this guy admitted he maliciously tampered with equipment, he was screwed. He should have argued that he was incompetent...

    --
    Physics is nothing like religion. If it was, we'd have an easier time trying to raise money!
    1. Re:Duh... by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The point at which this guy admitted he maliciously tampered with equipment, he was screwed. He should have argued that he was incompetent...

      I've seen more than one shop where some vital/important system required the personal intervention of one particular guy to get up and going again in the event that something needed to be reset/rebooted/repaired. I don't believe it was malice, just incompetence, overconfidence, understaffing or some combination that resulted in a plausibly deniable deadman switch.

      --
      I am not a crackpot.
    2. Re:Duh... by TWX · · Score: 4, Insightful

      He never should have mounted an argument in the first place. He never should have spoken with authorities without his own representation, and probably not even with his own representation.

      Ignoring for a moment that his choice to act maliciously was what truly screwed him, law enforcement authorities are quite practiced at getting people to admit fault or to use language that allows the authorities to claim an admission. The only winning move is to not participate.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    3. Re:Duh... by NotSoHeavyD3 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Here's the only video you need to see about this (Yes it's long but it's interesting) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

      --
      Did you know 80 to 90% of the moderators on slashdot wouldn't recognize a troll even if one dragged them under a bridge.
    4. Re:Duh... by rmdingler · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Smart people do dumb things when they're upset. According to TFA, he hacked into a protected computer to create the turmoil.

      I'll bet you a dogecoin he believed he was clever enough not to leave any traces back to himself.

      Inexperienced with law enforcement methods (or perhaps the consequences/repercussions anomaly), it probably didn't occur to him what one of the first lines of inquiry would be.

      Anyone in IT that might be disgruntled?

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    5. Re:Duh... by jxander · · Score: 4, Funny

      And the next question is something like "Anyone got a $5 wrench?"

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      This signature is false.
    6. Re:Duh... by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you are not a criminal, present evidence to the police that you are not a criminal

      Incorrect. Present nothing. Say nothing. Do not open your mouth. Stare into space. Daydream. Meticulously mentally design a house in your mind.

      Repeat after me:

      Silence

      Silence

      Silence

    7. Re:Duh... by Jhon · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "Never talk to the police, ever! Lawyer or no lawyer."

      I hear this often and take issue with it. Last year, my daughter was kidnapped from our home in the middle of the night. My wife, son and I talked to high-heaven answering every question, letting them look at every thing they wanted. FBI, too.

      My goal was to let them rule us out as fast as humanly possible (which they did).

      I understand your sentiment, but those words "never" and "ever" that makes it just wrong.

      (Daughter was recovered. Monster is about to go on trial)

    8. Re:Duh... by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Then you are an idiot, a fool, a liar, or some combination of them.

      Well, I guess you're mean, rash, socially awkward, or some combination of those. I was referring to the situations I'd witnessed myself that had some similarity to the situation in TFA, not TFA guy. Seeing as I was suggesting a similar situation with a possible non-criminal explanation, whereas TFA guy admitted to doing it deliberately, I didn't think it was confusing.

      Or maybe you just read my comment too quickly before posting.

      --
      I am not a crackpot.
  2. Ashamed! by sentiblue · · Score: 4, Insightful

    He ruins our IT/Ops names...

    He doesn't deserve the term "Pro"

    1. Re:Ashamed! by mlts · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Four years for causing a million dollars worth of damage isn't that harsh a sentence. What would the verdict be if someone came into a facility with a cutting torch and did the same amount of physical damage? It likely would result in an arrest for some terrorism-related charge. Blanking out servers may not be as obvious as driving a semi into some core machinery, but it does the same exact thing, especially if there are no backups. The machinery may be intact, but if there is some manufacturing process that took years to develop and fine-tune, that knowledge can be lost forever.

      This guy got off lightly, and the lesson that EnerVest has learned is that they are probably going to get their next admin or admins from Tata or Infosys, and it won't be surprising to see more companies doing the same thing.

      A friend of mine had to clean up a mess (logic bombs left behind that would corrupt arrays and reset LTO tape passwords) that was similar, due to a disgruntled admin. After he cleaned up the mess and tested that backups were working on separate hardware, he was shown the door, and an offshore company hired for all IT work. The reason: "H-1Bs do not commit sabotage."

    2. Re:Ashamed! by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Informative

      He ruins our IT/Ops names...

      He doesn't deserve the term "Pro"

      Right. "Pros" don't get caught!

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    3. Re:Ashamed! by Dahamma · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Four years for causing a million dollars worth of damage isn't that harsh a sentence.

      I might agree with you if Wall Street scammers didn't get less for causing HUNDREDS of millions in losses to their customers. And not from a one-time "flip out", but years of knowingly and systematically screwing over everyone who trusted them...

    4. Re:Ashamed! by kelemvor4 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "H-1Bs do not commit sabotage."

      Absolutely, allowing foreign nationals access to your systems is COMPLETELY safe. Moreover, they don't get angry when you take away their livelihood.

    5. Re:Ashamed! by taustin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Actually, between the equal protection clause of the 4th amendment and the cruel and unusual clause of the 8th, it isn't difficult to argue that it does, in fact, mean just that.

  3. He's lucky by Ralph+Wiggam · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If he had hacked in from outside the company and done that much damage, he probably would have gotten more than 4 years.

  4. He turned job termination into career termination by JoeyRox · · Score: 4, Informative

    And likely life termination as well. What a complete and utter moron.

  5. Glue his fingers together so he cant use a pc by mpicpp · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've cleaned up messes and had to do data recovery after people deleted their work, reformatted machines, etc. and then quit. I have no sympathy at all for people that do this type of stuff...

  6. Re:Ethics by DocSavage64109 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I was talking to an employee who was fired, but still around for a couple of days to clean up her stuff. She asked if I had backups, because she wanted to delete all of the projects she was working on. I told her that she was paid to do that work and I doubt if other people will go through her work that much anyway. Why go the unethical route when it just makes you look bad?

    I bet this guy could have just left, and assuming he was useful, the company would soon be feeling the pain anyway.

  7. Crappy headline by NotSanguine · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This guy is no professional. A professional does his job. That's what he/she is paid to do. Since this person was getting fired, I'm guessing he wasn't meeting expectations. Even if it was a broader layoff, there's no reason to act so unprofessionally.

    Not sure if he deserves jail time, but there is no reason to break stuff on your way out the door. I'm glad I know this guy's name. I will certainly never hire him.

    --
    No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
  8. Re:Ethics by ultranova · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why go the unethical route when it just makes you look bad?

    Because humans are herd animals, and corporate politics purposefully try to reinforce this - it's what "team building" and "commitment to job" is ultimately all about. This means that getting fired tends to register at the emotional level: you are being banished from your tribe. Add any actual or perceived injustice, and revenge becomes a factor.

    Modern economic system is pretty perverse, as far as human needs are concerned, so people caught in it tend to act irrationally.

    --

    Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

  9. Re:Ethics by rmdingler · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Well put.

    And not for nothing, as the grandparent's viewpoint is a sound one... Why be unethical even if you believe you've been done dirty? Hold your head high on the way out the door saying, "I was looking for a job when I found this one." Even if you don't feel it right then, you will be right proud of yourself later on.

    + to you both.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway