Slashdot Mirror
Sysadmin Gets Two Years In Prison For Sabotaging ISP (bleepingcomputer.com)
After being let go over a series of "personal issues" with his employer, things got worse for 26-year-old network administrator Dariusz J. Prugar, who will now have to spend two years in prison for hacking the ISP where he'd worked.
An anonymous reader writes: Prugar had used his old credentials to log into the ISP's network and "take back" some of the scripts and software he wrote... "Seeking to hide his tracks, Prugar used an automated script that deleted various logs," reports Bleeping Computer. "As a side effect of removing some of these files, the ISP's systems crashed, affecting over 500 businesses and over 5,000 residential customers."
When the former ISP couldn't fix the issue, they asked Prugar to help. "During negotiations, instead of requesting money as payment, Prugar insisted that he'd be paid using the rights to the software and scripts he wrote while at the company, software which was now malfunctioning, a week after he left." This tipped off the company, who detected foul play, contacted the FBI and rebuilt its entire network.
Six years later, Prugar was found guilty after a one-week jury trial, and was ordered by the judge to pay $26,000 in restitution to the ISP (which went out of business in October of 2015). Prugar's two-year prison sentence begins December 27.
When the former ISP couldn't fix the issue, they asked Prugar to help. "During negotiations, instead of requesting money as payment, Prugar insisted that he'd be paid using the rights to the software and scripts he wrote while at the company, software which was now malfunctioning, a week after he left." This tipped off the company, who detected foul play, contacted the FBI and rebuilt its entire network.
Six years later, Prugar was found guilty after a one-week jury trial, and was ordered by the judge to pay $26,000 in restitution to the ISP (which went out of business in October of 2015). Prugar's two-year prison sentence begins December 27.
The bankrupt/out-of-business entity will still have a trustee/ownership of some sort, and creditors against that trustee/owner.
I agree it's not hacking, but its also not legit. No longer an employee, he had no authorization to access the ISP's internal network even if he had the ability to do so. The CFAA is pretty clear on that.
You gotta hand it to the guy for negotiating for the rights to the software. He kinda was *TRYING* to do the right thing by making sure he had the proper rights to the software (presumably before he sold it himself). A more unscrupulous man might just have stolen the software and used it to start his own business without any notification at all.
There is no way to parse what he did as the "right thing." He stole from his former employer and sabotaged their system. And then tried to extort them for the rights to his software.
He should have been a professional and just walked away. Or at least he should have talked to a lawyer about his claim to the software he wrote. Although most likely his employment agreement considered it a "work for hire" so he had no claim.
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
This kind of thinking is what got him in trouble. It's not your stuff. It's work for hire, and they own the copyright. If your company were to discover you took software with you (written on their time), and they actually cared, they could have you arrested for theft.